Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 53 Secretly Guarding the Luxurious Party
In front of Chanis gate, guard room.

Claire bent her arms, then stretched them out again, repeating this movement over and over again.

In the not very spacious guard room, there were four people doing the same thing, either sitting or standing.

Leonard's movements suddenly became stiff, as if his joints were rusted, causing his arms to stretch only slowly.

The man in his thirties wearing a gray windbreaker next to Leonard pushed him, allowing Leonard's "arm flexion and stretching exercise" to regain flexibility.

"Thank you, Mr. Al Hassan." Leonard glanced cautiously at the iron-black box under the tablecloth.

Claire's expression was similar to Leonard's. She had just experienced the same situation as Leonard.

If only Ms. Lolota, who was standing next to her, hadn't pushed her.

At that time, her movements became difficult, and she had to become a puppet controlled by the seal.

The origin of all this is the Level 2 Sealed Object 2-049 in the iron-black box.

According to the Nighthawk's Instructions, a Level 2 Sealed Object is dangerous and must be used with caution and restraint.

The ability of this 2-049 seal is to delay the thinking of a humanoid creature within five meters, and the outward characteristic is the stagnation of movement.

If someone is affected and is not awakened in time by their companions, they will irreversibly become a puppet controlled by 2-049.

Moreover, the 2-049 seal will enter a violent state, and after the violent state, the number of people affected will increase to two each time.

Therefore, in order to safely and cautiously access the 2-049 seal, at least three people or more are required, and each person must do arm bending exercises to remind teammates whether they are normal.

Just like the Nighthawks team that escorted the 2-049 Seal from Backlund to Tingen this time, it consisted of only three people.

They are Al Hassan, Lorota and Borgia.

Among them, Ms. Lorota wore clothes similar to men's clothing, a black jacket, a white shirt, black tights and leather boots of the same color.

Claire fell in love with this outfit at first sight and planned to imitate it.

Sequence 8 "Gravedigger" Ms. Lolota talked to Claire about Daly. While praising Daly's amazing talent in the "Corpse Collector" path, she also said that she wanted to say hello to her on Daly's behalf when she came to Tingen.

"It looks like Sister Daly is doing well in the Backlund Diocese," Claire said happily.

Although there was a messenger from Daly, Claire wasn't the type to use a spirit world messenger to greet people, so she felt very close to Ms. Lolota when she talked about Daly's time in Backlund.

Ms. Lolota smiled as she performed the gestures. "Daly wanted to come along this time, but she's a Sequence 6 Necromancer, which significantly exceeds the requirements for this mission, so her application won't be approved."

"This is truly something Sister Dali can do."

As they chatted, Dunn led Klein into the guard room. They moved in unison, one in front and one behind, performing the arm flexion and extension movements.

This resulted in seven official night watchmen gathering in the small guard room to "exercise", which was like some kind of cult ritual.

"Klein Moretti has a strange connection with the Antigonus family's notes." Dunn briefly introduced Klein to his three colleagues from the Backlund Diocese.

Claire had just heard Ms. Lorota say that the function of Sealed Artifact 2-049 was to track the descendants of the Antigonus family.

This time, 2-049 was brought to Tingen to hunt down Riel Bieber.

Klein's arrival seemed to make 2-049 even more excited and active, entering a frenzy more frequently, and would randomly cause the two of them to fall into a stagnant state at the same time.

Claire was also selected several times, and was awakened in time by her teammates.

"This means that Klein carries the aura of a descendant of the Antigonus family, which is why he's so excited and active... This also confirms that Riel Bieber must be a descendant of the Antigonus family."

The handsome middle-aged gentleman, Al Hassan, stood up and said, "Let's go, everyone. Let's finish this as quickly as possible and seal '2-049'."

Claire could sense the leader's urgency. She had been following the seal for a while, not only doing shameful actions but also falling into dangerous stagnation from time to time.

Not to mention Al Hassan and the other two who escorted the sealed object all the way. They must be very tired at this moment.

"Okay." Dunn also began to make arrangements. He looked at Leonard and said, "You drive. Klein, follow me." Claire, who was on duty at the Chanis Gate, asked, "Do you want me to come along?"

Dunn seemed ready to move, but after a moment's deliberation, he shook his head and said, "Leonard, Klein, me, three supporters, and the Sealed Artifact are more than enough to handle this."

Just chasing after Riel Bieber, who was carrying the Antigonus family notes, this six-man lineup was already quite impressive. Claire nodded and obediently stayed behind to take her turn.

However, when they separated, in order to ensure that Claire was not affected by the seal, Dunn bent his arms while walking backwards to ensure that he could observe the condition of Claire who stayed behind.

From Claire's perspective, Dunn looked even more ridiculous.

But Claire couldn't laugh. Instead, she felt a sense of security as if she was being protected by the captain.

"No wonder Sister Daly's heart is so tied to the captain..." Claire stopped moving her arms as she watched the group turn and leave, feeling deeply moved.

"When will the captain finally understand Sister Dai Li's feelings? Um... Sister Dai Li, it's the same with you. These two are such blockheads..."

Claire cleaned up the guard room. In this rare moment of free time, she recalled the task assigned by Mr. Fool at the last gathering.

"Prayer ceremony..."

Claire thought for a moment, then took out the materials she had prepared earlier, set up a simple altar, drew a spiritual wall, and chanted in Hermetic script:

"You are a fool who does not belong to this era."

"You are the mysterious master above the gray fog."

"You are the yellow and black king of good luck."

"I pray for your help."

"I pray for your favor."

"I pray that you will let me have a good dream."

Claire was quite familiar with the prayer ritual, but this time the object of her prayers had changed from the Goddess to Mr. Fool. However, Claire waited patiently for a while, but received no response from Mr. Fool.

"Failed?"

Claire tried again, and this time she took the initiative to deepen her spiritual connection with the gray fog space.

This time, Claire sensed that the gray fog world was sending a prayer to a certain existence.

"The ritual seems to have been successful... but Mr. Fool couldn't respond in time?"

With this in mind, Claire removed the altar and materials, and took out the borrowed fighting style manual to memorize and study.

After a long time, a series of responses echoed in Claire's ears.

"I see."

is the response of a fool.

A hint of crimson flowed in Claire's eyes as she saw the distorted and illusory figure of the Fool in the gray fog.

However, the voice was not loud and was almost drowned out by the hidden sage's mumbling.

At the same time, in Tingen City, at the dock area.

With the cooperation of the Nighthawks, Klein narrowly eliminated the out-of-control Riel Bieber. He found time to enter the gray fog world and respond to Claire's prayers. After completing his task, Klein wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled bitterly, "Senior Claire really knows how to choose the right time..."

At the same time, in Tingen City, Jinwutong District.

The nobles of Tingen held a lavish party as usual.

At the party, "Mrs. Sharon" walked towards Jessica Meazza, holding a glass of wine.

(End of this chapter)