Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

"Yes...yes! I'm so sorry, Father!"

The middle-aged man was Albert de Blois, the father of Vittorica and Gurevien.

Albert closed the book and touched the glass of wine beside him, where Gurevan happened to see a red tattoo of an ouroboros on the back of his hand.

Blue lightning illuminated the room, the glass slowly twisted and deformed, and bright red wine was spilled all over the floor.

"Never mind... but for the sake of the plan, I need to take some measures, after all, she is..."

"The last weapon."

Chapter 1139: The Vanishing Victorique

It was summer, and the Kingdom of Suvar was quite hot under the bright sun.

Although summers in this era are not as unbearable as those in the 21st century under the greenhouse effect, people still miss the climate of spring.

At this time, Freon, invented by Thomas Mickey, had not yet been introduced, and air conditioning was not yet available. The only way to get through the hot summer was to find a place to escape the heat.

"Ugh—it's so hot and boring!"

As soon as he heard the voice, Isaac knew that Dallian was complaining again.

There weren't many books in the villa to begin with, and some of them were already read by Dalian. So after she finished reading all the books at home, she would often drag Hugh to the bookstore or simply travel to nearby cities.

Hughie calmly sipped his black tea and read the newspaper on the sofa, clearly already used to Dallian's complaints.

"Dalian, do you want to go out and play?"

"Huh? Where is this place?"

"Suvalen".

"You mean the capital of the Kingdom of Suvar? Didn't we already go there last time?"

"I only bought a few things last time I went, but it seems like they have a promotion this time."

Hugh flipped through the newspaper in his hand, and one of the pages had a large advertisement that took up half the page.

"A magic show by Brian Roscoe, the greatest magician of all time... a magic performance?"

“Yeah, I heard it’s quite famous. I’d like to go check it out too,” Hugh said with a smile.

Isaac glanced at Hughes beside him.

"You're all familiar with the power of the Illusionary Book, why would you still be interested in these kinds of magic tricks?"

"I just want to see how people without any mysterious powers can put on such amazing performances, and the atmosphere on set is sure to be very interesting."

"Oh, whatever you want."

"Isaac, are you going?"

“I’ll pass. I’m not interested in magic or anything like that,” Isaac waved his hand and said. “I have more important things to do right now.”

"Something more important?" Hugh asked, somewhat puzzled. "You mean finding your lost textbook?"

"Oh, there's something else besides that."

Fran, sitting next to Isaac, said with a smile, "Recently, Isaac was competing in deduction with a kid, and after losing a few rounds, he wanted to get his revenge."

"what?"

"You talk too much."

Isaac couldn't help but push Fran aside and stand up from the sofa himself.

"Let's go find that brat first and see if she has any cases."

------

It had been almost three days since I last saw Victoria.

When Victorique told Isaac she wanted to go to his world with him, Isaac agreed without much thought.

Anyway, it's just taking a kid back with us. Besides, Victorica is quite smart, and she might come in handy back in Amestris.

After agreeing to Victorique's request, she looked relieved and told Isaac that she was looking forward to the day she would leave this world.

Having been confined to the castle since childhood, and now under house arrest on the top floor of the Great Library, he might never have known what the outside world was like if it weren't for Isaac's appearance.

She had no attachment to this world, but she didn't want Isaac to take her away right away either; there was still one thing she hadn't finished.

That was to go see his mother, Cordelia Gaynor.

……

"Victoria, are you there?"

When Isaac arrived at the Great Library, he did not sense any presence in the botanical garden; there was not a single person in this vast botanical garden.

All that remained were scattered books and snacks on the floor.

The botanical garden was deserted and silent, as if Victoria had never existed.

"Not here...did you go out?"

Isaac frowned, but didn't think much of it and went downstairs.

Walking down the corridor of the Grand Library, looking at the thousands of books embedded in the surrounding walls, these books were all props used to alleviate Victoria's boredom.

Without Isaac, Victorique himself doesn't know how much longer he would have been bored in this place.

"Your Excellency Lieutenant General."

"Hmm? Ange."

When he reached the first floor, a silver-haired girl walked towards him and stood in front of him.

"What's wrong? You shouldn't have any classes today, right...?"

“Victorica asked me to give this to you.”

"what?"

Ange handed Isaac a letter, and he opened the envelope to reveal its contents.

What happened?

"She was taken away."

"...By whom?"

“A member of the Blois family.”

"...I don't understand this operation."

“I don’t understand it either,” Ange said.

She told Isaac in detail what had happened the previous night.

“Last night, the Marquis of Blois’s men came to the school and wanted to move Victorique to the monastery. Teacher Cecil argued with them for a long time, but she was still taken away. I was there at the time.”

"Didn't they say why?"

"No."

Anjie shook her head.

"Although she was taken away suddenly in the middle of the night, Victorique asked to wait a moment. She sat down at the table seriously and slowly wrote this letter to you. She exuded a determination to finish it no matter what. Several adults could not stop her until she finished writing the letter and could only wait by her side. With tears in her eyes, Victorique handed it to me and was then taken away from this entrance hall, put into a large black carriage, and even blindfolded."

"..."

Isaac lowered his head and began to analyze.

"That Albert guy seems a bit arrogant, but he didn't stop Victorica from writing to me, so he probably doesn't want to be my enemy right now. Why did he do that?"

“Victorica is a descendant of a large family, and some things are just beyond our control,” Angie said to Isaac.

"You, a spy, are talking like you have deep experience, as if you come from a big family."

"...Then you are also a prince of the new country, so you should have some understanding of this as well."

“Of course there are. Children from big families have fathers who will do everything they can to trick their sons, and then princes and princesses will also try to trick them back. So I’ve never thought about going back to the New Kingdom,” Isaac laughed. “If I had a son, I definitely wouldn’t trick him, so he wouldn’t try to trick me.”

"Your Excellency holds a rather special position in the new country, but let's leave that aside for now."

Ange looked at the letter in Isaac's hand and asked:

"Should we bring Victoria back?"

"of course."

"Then she was in the monastery of Suvarnadz, a place known as the 'Skull of Beelzebub'."

"...How did you know?"

"Because I'm a spy."

Chapter 1140: You got off easy.

After packing his things a little, Isaac bought a train ticket to Suvarnadez.

The so-called 'Skull of Beelzebub' is said to be located in Suvarnadz, in the Kingdom of Suvarnadz, but it is actually a monastery on the very edge of the border, close to Lithuania.

Isaac asked around among people he knew and learned some rumors about the area.

The phenomenon of the falling of St. Mary occurred on December 10th, ten years ago. During the previous war, most of Lithuania was under Russian rule. At that time, there were claims that Beelzebub's skull was used as a base for espionage activities by the Russian intelligence service and the Academy of Sciences of the Allied Kingdom of Suvarnadzor.

That year was 1914. On a cold night with snow and wind, the seaside sky was occupied by countless German fighter planes. At that moment, a huge image of Mary suddenly appeared in the sky.

It is said that the image of Mary was taller than the Tower of Pisa, appearing translucent in the night sky, floating with an extremely sorrowful expression. It seemed to be grieving for those who fought each other, lamenting the lives that were killed one another, and feeling sorry for the ever-changing world. After appearing in the night sky and shedding tears, it disappeared in less than a few minutes.

However, in those few minutes, the outcome of the war was decided. German fighter planes crashed; some disappeared into the sea, while others, spiraling downwards, crashed onto the beach, becoming pillars of fire in the night along with their fuel. It is said that the giant statue of Mary appeared on the night of the full moon.

To be honest, ever since I came to the Kingdom of Suvar, I hear these kinds of strange tales all the time, ranging from ghost stories in schools to wars between nations.

I initially thought these things were all related to the Phantom Book, but later I discovered that most of the strange tales in the Kingdom of Suvar were just little tricks, and that the local nobles and even the royal family were incredibly stupid.

Considering that even a charlatan like Leviathan could deceive the kingdom's queen, Isaac thought that if he were in the Kingdom of Suvar thirty years ago, wouldn't he have been able to...?

Well, he can't fool a single woman. After all, he's not only unpopular with women, but also has low emotional intelligence. Leviathan can at least say some things to please the princess, while Isaac can only swear.

That's how Isaac described himself.

"Your Excellency Lieutenant General, we will arrive in Suvarnabhumi in two hours."

After Ange entered the carriage, she sat down next to Isaac.