Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1417 "Hypocrisy"

On this day, Danitz chose a quiet time late at night to go to the room of Alger Wilson, who was still serving as the Pope of the "Church of the Sea God" but was actually a follower of the "Fool." There he met the man who usually wore a silver-black mask but was now revealing his true face.

This was not an informal conversation, so Danitz didn't exchange many pleasantries and quickly got to the point.

“Your Holiness,” he began with difficulty, “I have a question I would like to ask you.”

“Just call me by my real name in private, Danitz.” Alger had a special attitude towards this believer who had become a divine messenger before Mr. Fool had truly recovered and whose faith was only spreading underground. “I guess you’re still worried about how to advance to the 'Iron-Blooded Knight'?”

Having his thoughts exposed, Danitz sat down in the chair and nodded, saying:

"That's a very difficult ritual to perform."

"For some reason, the team members I try to win over and recruit quickly distance themselves from me. Their relationships are quite good, but I, as the team leader, am isolated."

"Do you think that if we pray to the great Fool and ask Him to send down a divine decree requiring thirty believers to become my team members who share my heart, will He agree?"

Alger chuckled softly, glancing subconsciously at the "Sea God" emblem hanging high in the room, which, of course, was actually referring to the Fool.

“You should know that this kind of forced ‘recruitment’ does not meet the requirements of the ritual and may even have the opposite effect.” He put away his amused mood and patiently explained, “Otherwise, you could sell a house on Bayam Fragrance Avenue and hire a team of extraordinary individuals to act as your temporary teammates to help you complete the ritual.”

Danitz, the "Reaper" sitting opposite him, immediately deflated, his expression falling.

Seeing this, Alger continued:
"From what I've observed, the reason you find it difficult to form a team that is loyal to you and shares your thoughts is that you always can't help but provoke them and suppress those in lower ranks than you. A team shouldn't be like that. As the captain, you need to maintain an air of mystery and keep a certain distance from them, but you can't truly become estranged... You need to know what to say and what not to say. It's better to say nothing than to make a mistake, otherwise, even long afterward, people will remember you and challenge your authority... How to strike the right balance is something you can only figure out yourself, but you can ask Anderson, who has already been promoted to Saint."

“He said he drank the potion while being hunted by a group of thirty people who were jealous of him,” Danitz said softly. “I originally wanted to do this by provoking them, but it doesn’t seem to work that well. It alienated the team members, but not to the point of hatred.”

Does this guy really have the talent to be a hunter...? Looking at the "Reaper" who was frowning and pondering how to solve the ritual problem, Alger was speechless for a moment.

If he hadn't known the other person long before becoming a member of the Tarot Club, and they weren't now considered one of the few old friends, he wouldn't have bothered to help this guy come up with a solution.

After a moment's hesitation, Alger carefully considered his words and said:

"If you really don't have a talent for this, I can recommend another method to you."

"How do I do that?" Danitz's eyes lit up as he saw the hope of becoming a demigod.

“I think you’ve heard that certain potion pathways can be interchanged with other pathways that are ‘adjacent’ in a mystical sense when advancing to higher sequences, and for hunters, that adjacent pathway is… ‘assassin’.”

"Assassin? You mean a witch?"

Having spent many years in the Middle Sequence, Danitz was no longer the foolish pirate who was priced at 3000 pounds and hung outside the porthole by a young adventurer couple who had just arrived at sea. Naturally, he was well aware of many characteristics of the "Witch's" path.

This route being adjacent to the hunter was indeed unexpected, but more importantly...

"Doesn't the Witch Path turn you into a woman starting at Sequence 7? And you become more and more beautiful, tempting people to commit crimes... I remember the 'Queen of Disease' before she disappeared was a high-sequence witch, and the men and women of the entire fleet were her simps... Are you saying that jumping from Hunter to Sequence 4 'Despair' won't cause this change?"

He looked at Alger warily, suspecting that the other man's suggestion to switch to an adjacent route was for some ulterior motive.

The latter, still wearing the same smile, said:

"Of course it will. From what I understand, starting from Sequence 7, each advancement in the Witch Path will 're-' become a woman,' and there is no way to exploit any loopholes."

"But compared to the 'Iron-Blooded Knight' ascension ritual, which you are not good at, the 'Despair' Witch's ritual is more direct. After the End Church's reforms, it doesn't even require sacrificing innocent people. You just need to find a demigod or a superhuman being of the same rank, and use your own schemes and abilities to make the other party die in despair."

"Most importantly, once you advance to Sequence 3, you can switch back to the 'War Bishop' path of the Hunter and become your male self again. Isn't that a perfect way to bypass the part you're not good at?"

As Alger guided his words, Danitz's expression changed continuously, first with anger, then with contemplation, and finally with hesitation.

"Then...how am I supposed to go back to see my father and mother...won't they recognize me when they see me as a woman? If they do, they might just beat me to death...and my unreliable subordinates, they're only really in sync with me when they're teasing me..."

He said it in a daze.

"They've already accepted it, and they're already thinking about how to explain it to outsiders afterward..." Alger chuckled to himself, took off a gold ring with an extravagant design from his hand, and placed it on the table between the two of them.

"This is a sealing artifact made with the characteristics of 'Faceless Man'. Its greatest function is to change the user's appearance. When you advance to the 'Despair' Witch, you can use it to temporarily transform back into 'Flame' Danitz to deal with some problems that are inconvenient for a woman's body to handle, while maintaining the existence of two identities at the same time."

Looking at the gleaming gold ring, Danitz felt a certain appeal in the proposal.

Damn it, I was only slightly tempted!

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.

As soon as Christina removed Danitz's golden ring, she noticed that the man in front of her was writhing all over, his flesh and skin changing as if being kneaded by an invisible hand.

Her messy, yellowish-brown short hair quickly grew to "Danitz's" waist, turning black at the roots to create a beautiful gradient. Her lifeless eyes resembled a captivating azure lake. Her previously unremarkable features became more defined, with a higher nose bridge, slightly upturned red lips, and delicate ears hidden among her hair. The curve of her chin was no longer sharp, but instead formed a smooth arc, revealing her fair neck and collarbone below.

Beneath his trench coat, the silk shirt was pushed up even more by his already muscular chest, blending perfectly with his upturned buttocks. His bones and ligaments cracked, and his height and physique had changed further, no longer giving off a tall and masculine feeling, but rather an alluring charm.

In an instant, Danitz transformed into a woman dressed as a man in front of Tina and Dorothy, a woman of exceptional beauty and even a touch of saintly grace.

What... what's going on...? Tina took two steps back in shock, taking in the other person's entire body, and muttered:
"Genius, did you turn him into this?"

The handsome and wealthy divine messenger suddenly became a woman, a woman whose appearance was no less than her own. Tina simply couldn't accept it.

“I wouldn’t do something so pointless,” the golden figure behind her scoffed. “As I just said, the negative effect of her sealed artifact is to make people stupid, while the positive effect, or rather the main function, is to change their appearance and body shape, making them look like a different person.”

But I've already taken it off... Before Tina could process what was happening, Dorothy, who had also heard the genie's explanation, nodded and said:

"So, 'Flame' Danitz has always been a woman, and only disguised herself as a man using this ring?"

"That's true for now, but she only became a woman in the last few years because she jumped from Sequence 5 of the Red Priest, or Hunter pathway, to Sequence 4 of the Witch pathway. And the potions in this pathway can turn men into women." So, he—no, she—was a man for decades before becoming like this because of the potion? How terrifying, and how pitiful… Tina looked at "Danitz," whose expression was weak and whose eyes were still glazed due to the negative effects of the seal, and couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

This was also the first time she had truly witnessed the complete operation of extraordinary abilities, and she was still shaken by the process of flesh writhing, hair growing wildly, and bones cracking all over her body.

Dorothy, with an inquisitive expression, even reached out and tried to touch the chest that was bulging out of the other woman's close-fitting silk shirt, wanting to see if her suddenly fuller figure was real.

Just then, Danitz's blank gaze suddenly sharpened, his half-open, silly grin snapped shut, and he jumped back, dodging Dorothy's hand.

Her sluggish mind returned to normal, and her gaze swept over the two girls and the golden lamps placed on the single sofa behind them. For a moment, she couldn't understand what had just happened.

Was I just in some kind of dementia? But I only put on the "False" ring to change my appearance before I went out. The negative effects of the sealed artifact couldn't have taken effect so quickly. And even if it had been more than twelve hours, my Saintly status is enough to resist the side effects of most sealed artifacts below the demigod level. It's impossible for me to completely lose my ability to think normally... She was half puzzled and half panicked, feeling that she had been tricked by some extraordinary being of a higher order, or even possibly an angelic status.

It couldn't really be those two people, could it? They've been hiding in the shadows, following their daughters, and I almost blurted it out just now, which triggered the negative effects of the sealed artifact and turned me into an idiot... She immediately thought of a possibility.

If I had known that I would pretend not to know when I saw this girl who looked so much like Angelica Sachs on Fragrant Tree Avenue, and not go out, then this wouldn't have happened... No, if I had just stood by and watched, and then something happened near my house, that unreasonable Gehrman Sparrow would definitely have broken into my house and torn me to pieces. Even if I had seduced him, it wouldn't have mattered. Could I be more charming than Angelica?
Shaking off the strange thoughts in his head, when Danitz looked at Tina and Dorothy again, his expression had softened, and his eyes no longer held the fierceness he had during his hunter days.

She planned to send these two girls, whom no one dared to mess with, out of Bayam first, no matter what.

All my properties are here!

Seemingly noticing Danitz's change in attitude, Christina, who held the "Deceitful" ring and whose face was almost identical to Angelica's, resembling a young "Golden Queen," cautiously asked:

"Mr. 'Flame,' or Ms.? What just happened?"

Upon hearing this nickname, Danitz suddenly felt a little irritated. Suppressing her emotions, she explained in a serious tone:
"I suddenly thought of some past events just now, so I was a little dazed. As for the male version of me that you saw before, it was actually a sophisticated makeup technique, um, a secret of the 'Fool's' Church."

"In short, this is my true appearance now; the male Danitz was just a disguise."

“I understand,” Tina nodded, seemingly understanding, and asked in an emotionless tone, “So, you were just pretending to be ‘Flame’ Danitz? What’s your name?”

You can call me Denise.

Danitz—no, Denise—chuckled inwardly at how easily the girl before her was deceived, and told her the name she used when she was a woman.

This was registered when she was serving as a bishop at the "Church of the End Times," and this identity would be held for ten years as part of her compensation for providing potion recipes, materials, and assistance in completing the ritual.

Of course, she also handed over the extraordinary materials she had accumulated to advance to "Iron-Blooded Knight". Fortunately, the relationship between the Church of Fools and the Church of the End was relatively good, so this strange deal was made possible.

Composing herself, Denise continued:

"Anyway, I was just impersonating Danitz, hoping to lure out a few foolish pirates, but I didn't expect to run into you guys..."

She glanced at the golden lamp on the armchair and continued:
"Did you come to 'Azure Wind' just to put this lamp on the sofa?"

“Yes.” Tina nodded solemnly, her tone extremely serious. “We are worshipping a great being who can grant any wish.”

"Granting any wish... Anyone who believes that is probably a fool. Even your parents wouldn't dare say that..." Denise thought to herself, but dared not show it, lest she be captured by a terrifying adventurer or a penniless pirate lurking in the shadows and turned into a special ability to be sold. She could only suppress a laugh and say:
"Then I'll take you back. Where do you live? Backlund or Trier?"

As the "Despair" witch, she can carry objects of a certain weight through the mirror portal to distant places. Even crossing the raging sea, it wouldn't take her long to reach the northern continent.

"No need, Sister Denise, just take us to the dock."

This time, the one who answered her was the dark-haired girl Dorothy. Her appearance showed a lot of Goremann's genes, as well as Angelica's facial features. Compared to Christina, who was completely descended from one of them, she was more prominent as the daughter of both.

Of course, Denise didn't understand genetics. She just wanted to know why the two girls came to Bayam without any protection, so she quickly did a magic mirror divination with her eyes, but found that she couldn't get any useful information at all.

The only possibility is that the two girls are actually under the protection of a higher being, namely their angel parents... Once she understood this, Denise no longer hesitated, nodded in agreement, took back the "false" ring from Tina that allowed her to at least revert to Danitz in appearance, and was about to leave the luxury suite to take the two girls to the dock.

At this moment, Tina, who had picked up the golden lamp, looked around and asked with some curiosity:
"Sister Denise, is there anything special about this luxury suite?"

"Why do you ask that?" Denise turned around and looked at Tina, who was looking at her with a thoughtful expression and expectant eyes. "This suite is the room where the legendary adventurer Gehrman Sparrow and 'Golden Queen' Angelica Sachs fought!"

"what--"

The two sisters expressed their emotions with drawn-out gasps of surprise.

"But how do you know that? Is the story in the novel true, and is 'Flame' Danitz really a servant of the great adventurer Gehrman?"

Tina, holding the golden lamp, blinked at Denise and pressed for an answer.

The latter's expression froze for a moment before he lowered his voice and replied:
"Because I was there at the time..."

As she recalled how she used her arson skills to light fireworks to help the two celebrate the New Year, only to almost be discovered by the police, and how she stumbled upon their intimate moment while preparing to take Joelman to the "Red Theatre," Denise wore a bitter smile.

The next second, she suddenly realized the implied meaning in Tina's words.

Wait, she already knows I'm actually "Flame" Danitz? I thought I fooled them with the excuse of "makeup," but actually they just fooled me?

shit!

"Flame" Denise was furious and suddenly stretched out a hand...

...She grasped the doorknob, opened the door, and asked softly:

"Ladies, may we set off now?"

(End of this chapter)