Miss Witch's Forbidden Book Secret

"Even Rexar, a student of Ulrich, had to escape from the Iris Flower back then, let alone you, whose situation is even worse!"

"Do you know! I specially invited you here not only because of your extraordinary power, but also because of your knowledge, your ability, and your faith! It's not that I need you, it's that the Iris Flower People need you!"

"Although the empire is entrenched, at least everyone can still survive. But here, the living and the dead have become completely blurred. I believe this place needs you! And I need you too!"

Tia finished speaking almost without stopping, and before the master could reply, she immediately extended an olive branch.

Bai Hu himself was well aware of these circumstances, but after all, that was the birthplace of the Yale sect, and his hometown. Besides, what difference would it make if he went to other places?

Can it really develop better?

Putting aside whether development is possible, it's just that Holly caught the Inquisition's superhumans off guard this time; otherwise, how they would have left the Empire alive would have been a problem!

Moreover, even when he arrived at the Iris Flower, he was powerless—he was blind. The Holy Grail lineage of the Aristocracy had long been interrupted, partly because history was indeed too long, and partly because the Inquisition was wary of heretics. The Aristocracy's ascension rituals could only go up to Sequence 5, which was the level of bishop. He hadn't even reached that; he was only at Sequence 6.

Blindness has a huge impact on career advancement.

What can a sequence 6 do in an iris?

But Tia's next words quickly swayed him.

Tia said, “I can get you involved in the reconstruction of the church in Mistmoon City. And I can at least get you nominated as the archbishop of the Iris region—the reconstruction of the church in Mistmoon City is the top priority of the church’s work right now, and I can let you join temporarily as the bishop and priest of Ansu.”

"If you want, you have every opportunity to become the diocese bishop of Mistmoon City. If you can become the first diocese bishop of the capital, you will definitely be able to nominate the archbishop of the Iris region. In this way, you can use the channels of the theocracy to put pressure on the empire to extradite the other members of the Alar faction to Iris. You can spread the gospel in Iris."

Chapter 205 They gave too much

When Master Baihu heard the last sentence, he gripped his wooden staff tightly.

It was indeed very tempting, but to be honest, he had seen far too many empty promises like this.

Leaving aside the unknown Miss "Furyn Bonaparte" in front of us, even the Prime Minister of the Empire, Duke Chapel, had offered very good conditions and even allowed the monastery to preach in Solomon City.

—As a result, the so-called missionary work only meant that missionary work could only be carried out within the Glass Palace, and anyone who wanted to leave the palace had to obtain the approval of the court ministers.

Master Baihu shook his head and said, "What you say is very good, but I simply can't believe it. Besides, although we're not doing very well in the Empire, we're not exactly in a terrible situation either. The Empire is just like that, not too good, not too bad. But I believe you're really being deceived."

Tia refused to give up and asked again, "Master! Aren't you really going to reconsider? If I don't go to hell, who will?"

"What do you mean by going to hell? The priests of the Yale sect are just a little slow on the uptake, they're not idiots."

Master White Oak didn't really want to talk to Tia, so he put down his staff, sat in a chair, and closed his eyes to meditate.

Tia bothered the old man for a while, but Master Baihu dared not listen to what she said at all—afraid of being bewitched by the girl's words.

Tiya had no choice but to ask, "Alright! Master! I think I understand what you mean. If, and I mean if, what kind of guarantee would you believe me?"

“Believe? Don’t be silly, child—” The old man was too embarrassed to say anything harsh, so he changed his mind and said, “Unless you can get the universal patriarch of the Holy See to write a holy decree guaranteeing its authenticity.”

After saying that, Master Baihu laughed.

This is a bit too much to ask. Bai Hu never doubted the strength of the unfamiliar child in front of her. After all, she was already a Sequence 7 at such a young age. Whether in Saint Enggard or the Holy Church, or even in Herod City, her status would not be low. At the very least, she would be a Silver Knight who had taken an oath, a senior priest, or a candidate for bishop.

But to get in touch with the universal Patriarch—that's a bit of a pipe dream.

Due to the special status of the universal patriarch, those who can usually contact the universal patriarch directly are the popes of their respective countries. Even the archbishops within the ecclesiastical country rarely see the patriarch, because this universal religious leader hardly manages any affairs and rarely appears in public.

But soon, Tia's answer left Master White Oak completely astonished.

Tia agreed almost immediately, quickly reaching out to grasp Master Baihu's right hand, and earnestly said, "It's a deal! You can't go back on your word!"

"I...I don't regret it, I don't regret it. But this matter..."

"That's good! The people of the Iris Flower have suffered for alchemy for too long. You must come and spread the good news!"

"This, good, good..."

"By the way, I also need your guidance, Master. Please take a look at me quickly."

Before Master Baihu could agree, Tia handed him the copied manuscript, left her contact information, interrupted the old man, and politely took her leave.

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Leaving the dock, the shrike flew to a lamppost and exclaimed incredulously, "Your Highness, you really agreed? Do you even know what a Patriarch of the World is?"

"Of course. That's why I agreed."

Tia walked down the street, gently pressing down on her small top hat. The wind was a bit strong, causing her dress to flutter wildly.

The sky was overcast, and it looked like it was going to rain. Tia found a bookstore on the street to sit down and casually picked up a newspaper from Mistmoon City.

The shrike flew to the bookshelf, took a sip from the wine bottle on the book cover with its beak, and still sensed that Tia was plotting something. It couldn't help but ask, "Stop reading your vulgar gossip, Tia, are you really planning to go see the Patriarch of the Universals?"

Tia turned the page and found it was a tabloid article about Jeremiah. The reporter used very direct language to describe the private story of President Jeremiah's fondness for women's clothing twenty years ago. Tia felt like she was reading a pornographic book and casually replied, "Of course, I keep my word. I do what I say."

"Keep your word? Do what you say? You ouroboros, are you serious? You're practically human!"

???

Tia was filled with questions. She wasn't human?

Just as she was about to engage in a passionate exchange with this silly bird, she suddenly heard a delicate and gentle voice coming from behind her.

"Hello! Are you Ms. Funina?"

Tia turned around and saw a girl dressed in a short black tailcoat that looked like a waitress's uniform. She immediately heard:

"Hello, may I ask who you are... Ah! Hello! I am the new butler of the Montreal family. Our Miss Brigitte Montreal has sent me to deliver an invitation to the Peacocktail Theatre. At the beginning of next month, Miss Brigitte will be waiting for you in front of the marble arch of the Peacocktail Theatre. There will be a banquet after the theatre is completed."

At the beginning of the month...that is, two weeks later.

Upon hearing this, Tia was puzzled. She looked at the housekeeper carefully for a few moments but still couldn't recognize her.

Tia had never heard of the Montlima family or Brigitte Montlima that she mentioned.

But before Tia could ask any more questions, the housekeeper repeatedly explained that she was only there to deliver a letter. As for Tia's claim of not knowing her at all, she didn't really understand, and it wouldn't matter if Tia didn't go.

Since things had come to this point, Tia felt embarrassed to refuse.

After the housekeeper smiled, nodded, and left, Tia picked up the invitation in her hand, looked at it, and was about to tear it open.

With a whoosh, the shrike poked its head out, asking curiously, "Ha! Hey Tia, which girl did you meet up with this time? Are you some kind of goddess of desire, or is your true form somehow connected to some beautiful girl's body? Why are you being invited out by girls again?"

"How could that be? What girl would ask me out so easily? Have you ever had a bottle of alcohol constantly being offered to you?"

"Hmm, that seems to be true."

Shrike didn't dwell on the issue and said with interest, "So, are you going or not? If not, I'll go. There's bound to be some good wine at the banquet, haha!"

Tia opened the invitation, glanced at it, and said with a sudden realization, "I see."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"This so-called Miss Brigitte is just an empty title; I can invite anyone to the theater. But the party and the theater's owner are quite interesting."

Tia held up the invitation under the light, and the names of the banquet hosts were clearly visible.

—Marn Cullen.

Shrike asked in bewilderment, "I remember this person was in Solomon, how did he end up in Mistmoon City? I suggest you be careful."

"Yes, I also want to be careful."

"You mean you want to?"

Tia shook the envelope containing the invitation and took out a check with the bright words "5000 gold shields" printed on it.

Converted to gold pounds, it would be approximately £2500, or £3000 using the official exchange rate.

Tia sighed softly, "But they gave too much."

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Chapter 206 Is this my home?

The banquet hall inside the Sparrow's Tail Grand Theatre.

This theater was originally the private property of the royal family, but was later fully acquired by the Montreal family, who are known for their business acumen. As it was the royal family's private theater, it not only had a place to watch plays, but also provided everything needed for food, clothing, and accommodation.

You can even take a bath in it—the bathhouse is a long-standing tradition of the empire and is not to be missed.

Marne had just come out of the theater when he sat for a while in the banquet hall. Behind him was the adjutant sent by the Duke of Chapel: a classic imperial man with golden curly hair, blue eyes, a high nose, deep features, and body hair that was impossible to remove.

It's obvious that their ancestors followed Emperor Pinnock I into Solomon City as members of the Zhengman Banner, with genuine barbarian blood from the Great Icefield.

But this young adjutant was far from being barbaric; he was a highly educated scholar with considerable talent in the arts. However, finding work through art left him no job, so he simply joined the army.

The adjutant flipped through the ledgers, his heart pounding, and said:

“Mr. Marn, the total budget for this month is only 100,000 gold coins, but you’ve allocated 60,000 gold coins for your banquet. Even with the help of the Montelli family, it’s still not quite right to allocate funds solely for hosting a banquet!”

Marn strode to the sofa and exclaimed in shock, "Father of all things! How could it only cost 60,000 gold coins?"

Maren was dumbfounded. He had stolen 15,000, how could he have only spent 45,000 in total?

This is far too frugal; he'd be too embarrassed to embezzle funds...

The great inventor couldn't help but ask, "Corder, are you really from Solomon City? How did you manage to organize such a grand banquet that only cost 60,000 gold coins?"

"Oh? Yes, yes."

The lieutenant, Codd, felt somewhat ashamed about this; he came from the lowest rungs of Solomon City. He was too embarrassed to say it aloud.

Maren said quietly, "That's perfectly normal. A banquet can be quite expensive, especially one of ours which is political in nature, so we can't afford to be cheap!"

“But Mr. Marn—you spent thirty thousand gold coins just to hire people! Especially that Miss Frinna, although she herself is very important, but…”

“Miss Funina is a noblewoman. If you don’t give her ten thousand gold coins, she won’t even look at you. In fact, even if I give her ten thousand, it’s not enough.”

"But there's another Holly Corcia, who comes from the slums..."

"Ha, Kord? Use your brain. That's a Sequence 7, and a Sheathless Blade at that. Do you know how precious that is? After the Alchemy Society took over administration, they banned transcendents with Sheathless Blades from advancing in rank. Besides, I only spent three thousand gold shields to recruit her..."

Marn got up, grabbed Codd's shoulder and shook him, then shamelessly started spouting lies.

In reality, he gave Holly a thousand.

As for where the remaining two thousand are—alas, the big rats.

"But......."

"Stop, Code, stop! This is a necessary cost for attracting talent. Code, you need to use your brain more and think things through. Who will work for you if you don't pay them?"

"You're right, Mr. Marn!"

After thinking for a moment, Codd immediately recalled the discrimination he had faced in Solomon City and felt it made sense. He stood at attention and said, "Then what should we do, Mr. Marn?"

Marend glanced at Codd at this adjutant whose professional competence was questionable, and instead of being angry, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Although this ability is indeed a bit too outrageous, fortunately he is a typical Imperial citizen: loyal, honest, and simple.

Simply put, they are easy to fool.

Marn said, "The problem now is not that we have too much funding, but rather that we have too little. The royalists are mostly nobles, so what can we accomplish with 100,000 gold coins? Not to mention that we are short-handed and need to spend money to ensure their loyalty."

"Alright then, Cod!"

"I'm here!"

"Yes, I'll go recruit any usable superhumans. You need to prepare the accounts for me by the end of this month, and then ask Duke Chapel for more financial assistance."

"Mr. Marn, I didn't graduate with an accounting degree, nor have I studied economics or anything like that..."

"That's even better! Cod, you're a natural at this! I never knew you had this talent! Don't wait any longer, get moving!"

After saying that, Marn grabbed Codd's shoulder and shoved him away.

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On the other side, Tia had just withdrawn the money from the bank and returned to the Grand Hotel on the banks of the Broken Gold River.

She gave instructions to the shrike, asking him to keep a close watch on Master White Oak from a distance. She also had two ravens deliver the money to Ansu, and planned to return to Ansu first to resolve the matter of the imperial edict.

For Tia, there was only one way to obtain a divine decree from the Patriarch of the Holy See, so she had to go to the Royal Cathedral.

After this is done, I'll talk to Scarlett and then find out about the Wisdom Palace.

The former is because Tia is going to Marne's party, and "Miss Bridget" is just a title, meaning Tia can find a helper to go to the party with her. Putting aside their status, Eleanor is actually the most suitable.