Miss Witch's Forbidden Book Secret

Tia had tried her best, but Vera was perfectly fine. The next day, she was still lively and energetic, and even seemed to have more spirits.

As the two men prepared to board the ship in a carriage, they were escorted by a druid belonging to the Anti-Suppression Bureau, a young man in his twenties with red hair.

The druid escorted Tia and Vera onto the deck, somewhat surprised, "Sister Vera looks much better than before. Has Sulfute refined your healing rituals to this extent?"

The druid was unaware that Tia had already advanced to Sequence Three. However, the healing abilities she displayed still earned his deep respect.

A master of healing rituals is a good doctor.

Those working in the anti-suppression bureau can disrespect or even despise Roman and the royal family, but they must never make enemies with the doctor.

The druid's voice was also much more polite.

Tia quipped, "Isn't this what they mean by 'people are in high spirits when something good happens'?"

Vera straightened her face and said, "It's all thanks to the blessing of the Father of All Things."

"You owe that to my blessing."

Tia rolled her eyes.

"They're all pretty much the same."

Vera chuckled and blurted out a blasphemous remark. But this wasn't a church, so no one cared about her outburst.

However, the speaker meant no harm, but the listener took it to heart.

These words were interpreted differently by the druid, who was deeply impressed by Tia's superb medical skills, which had even won over the nuns of the church.

Once boarding, the druid helped Tia carry her luggage to the appropriate cabin and said to her, "Envoy Sulph, you and Sister Vera will be met by the Royal Navy fleet once you reach Golden Moon Bay after traveling west from the Broken Gold River."

Tia asked, somewhat puzzled, "There seem to be quite a lot of people on this ship. How many people is the Royal Navy evacuating?"

"About sixty people... all from our anti-crime bureau. We should have evacuated after the big explosion, but the council has been delaying because of the compensation issue."

The druid said thankfully, "Fortunately, Director Roman overruled the objections and forced the passage of the compensation bill in Parliament, which is why Parliament reluctantly agreed to send the Royal Navy to escort us back to Ansu."

"By the way, Special Envoy! We finally made it back, and Director Roman and Prince Albert have specially hosted a banquet at Silver Castle to celebrate our return. Are you coming too? Your contribution far surpasses that of any of us!"

“A banquet,” Tia thought for a moment and said, “I really should go back to Silver Castle.”

"That's wonderful! I'll look forward to hearing from you then!"

I definitely have to go to Silver Castle.

Saint-Simon decreed that the scepter must be returned and that he must report to the Queen about the Great Icefield—which might require her to dive into the deep sea today and be outmaneuvered by Roman.

This matter is extremely important, even more so than her advancement to Sequence Three. Ansu can miss out on a Sequence Three advancement, but she absolutely cannot miss out on the three major knight orders.

And since she's already advanced to Sequence Three, she'll have to go back to Silver Castle and show off to Roman.

Roman might still be able to command her in Sequence Four, but in Sequence Three—no one can command her to do anything unless the Queen herself requests it.

Because this is Ansu.

A nation of order, but also a nation of authoritarianism.

.......................

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Inside the Church of the Founders of the Nation at Silver Castle, Albert, the unworthy descendant who had just finished paying homage to his ancestors, hummed a little tune as he walked with his cane to the rose garden outside.

Although Albert claims to be dealing with electoral district reforms, he's really just making a public appearance, then going to cities and local councils in populous and developed cities like Newport News and Thessalonians to negotiate bylaws, and then handing them over to the cabinet.

As for those old constituencies that might have been flooded, eaten by cows, occupied by bears and wolves, or turned into ruins—Albert doesn't need to go there; there weren't many people living there anyway!

The councilors who come from there are all Voidlings. Their parents may still live in Silver Keep, but one day, their place of birth on their identity documents changes.

Therefore, Albert actually lived a relatively leisurely life, occasionally strolling around the streets and sending his children to boarding school through the housekeeper, while he himself went on vacation with his wife.

Albert was thinking about his vacation when he walked through the rose garden and bumped into Roman, who was rushing over.

Roman hadn't even had time to tidy himself up; he was wearing a loose-fitting suit jacket, his tie was undone, and he was even holding a towel in his hand.

"Albert! Something terrible has happened!"

"Calm down, calm down, Roman." Albert was quite surprised to see Roman so sloppy for the first time. He said, "Take your time, what's wrong?"

　"Someone has their eyes on the kingdom's territory!"

Albert gasped, horrified. "Huh? What kind of madman has this audacity?! It's the year 536 of the Holy Calendar, not 236!"

"It's a prophet from the Palace of Wisdom!"

"Damn it, those pigs are bastards! Are they trying to mess with Silver Fortress again?!"

Roman scooped up some water from the fountain, took a sip, and interrupted, "It's not Silver Castle."

"Nuremberg, Thessius, Hoxha, or Blackwater?"

"It's Westerburg! The Westerburg from the history textbooks, King Charles's northern fiefdom!"

"My God! What kind of place is that?!"

Chapter 446 The Winds of the Times

The journey from Fogmoon City to Newport takes six days. Although Tia has only been away from Ansu for five or six months, the wheels of time, covered in mud and water, have rolled forward through the turbulent irises and the dust of Ansu.

At dawn, Tia followed Vera with her suitcase, walking along the streets of the port area of ​​the Great Harbour District. In the distance, they could see the increasingly dense factories to the north, as well as horse-drawn carriages with steam engines everywhere.

A year ago, Ansu didn't have this thing. But when Tia came back this time, she not only saw this hybrid carriage, but also a simple and rugged car parked in front of the Newport Department Store.

—Nobody's buying it.

Tia first took a carriage to take Vera to the Cathedral of Our Lady, and then took another carriage back to the police station.

When the police questioned Vanessa, they learned that the manufacturer, Edith Traditional Manufacturing, had approached the royal-owned Lawrence Security to promote the product and purchase security services through royal connections.

Albert was also quite interested in this thing, and he went to the Royal Cathedral to invite Pope Peter to the Royal Society to test the prototype.

When the old man took a test ride on Queen's Road in the heart of Silver Castle, the rugged steam locomotive suddenly went out of control and exploded. Although the explosion only damaged the vehicle and caused no injuries, it almost scared the old man sick.

Moreover, because there were so many onlookers, nobles and wealthy merchants developed a psychological aversion to this thing, and even though Edith Manufacturing improved it several times and provided after-sales service and insurance, it was still rarely sought after.

However, there are still heroes and warriors who want to try new things and go to have them custom-made.

—For example, Vanessa.

Even if there are some risks, they don't care at all. For people like Vanessa, who were born in the modern era, the times are like rolling wheels, with new things every year, every month, and even every day.

Moreover, this thing looks much faster than taking a horse-drawn carriage or a subway that only runs once every half hour; time is money.

But that is indeed the case.

With the number of factories growing rapidly, Newport, which had fully entered the industrial age, was more familiar to Tia than Silverburg, which still retained some of the charm of the traditional era.

When Tia arrived at the police station, she saw young people who had graduated from the universities of Silverburg and St. Gentins and were here for internships. Even the coachman who came to see her off had a pocket watch in his hand.

Two years ago, this thing was basically just an ornament and a toy for people like Roman and Albert.

Nowadays, pocket watches are no longer class-specific; they are associated with time, job position, and work opportunities.

When Tia saw the pocket watch Vanessa pulled out, she asked in surprise, "Gold-plated? Vanessa, you can afford to buy this now? Does this mean you've finally gotten rid of your bad habit of philandering?"

Vanessa fastened her pocket watch and, while leading Tia upstairs, dangled it, saying, "Buy? Why would I buy such a flashy little thing? It was a gift from a child; she's made quite a bit of money lately. I don't just use this hand to boss around subordinates."

After saying that, Vanessa hummed a few cheerful tunes, carefully put away her pocket watch, and was leading Tia upstairs when she heard a familiar voice.

"Sulph?"

Tia looked up and saw Roman standing in front of the office door, still in good shape and wearing leather gloves. He said energetically, "You really caused quite a stir at Iris this time."

Tia shrugged and said, "Sir, since you came to greet me personally, it seems that Queen Elizabeth and the cabinet were indeed somewhat frightened by me."

"Indeed. Not only what you did at the Iris Flower Garden, but also your ascension to Sainthood. Come in and sit down."

Roman led Tia and Vanessa to his office, poured Tia a cup of hot tea, and teased, "If you were just causing trouble at Iris and had nothing to do with promotion, then it probably wouldn't be me here to greet you. It would be a young man sent by the Cabinet to test your stance."

"Could it be a young girl?"

"That is indeed possible."

Roman took off his gloves and said, "But your advancement is indeed quite astonishing. How long has it been? You're already at Sequence Three, and there's even the obstruction from the Palace of Wisdom. By the way, what exactly is going on between you and the Great Prophet?"

Tia said seriously, "Maybe she likes me."

"We're talking about serious business."

“Just kidding, Sir. The reason is actually quite simple. My sister, Avina Sulph, stole a part of their Destiny Chart. And Donya Bahram wants to find a way to complete their plan to control destiny through me, and she is even willing to fund my advancement to Sequence One for this purpose.”

This statement is not entirely untrue; it's just taken out of context and a lot of information is omitted.

Roman clicked his tongue in amazement and said, "Sequence One might have been a joke. But with the Wisdom Palace's resources, helping you reach Sequence Two shouldn't be a problem at all, right? Aren't you even a little tempted?"

"Guess whether I'm interested or not?"

Tia became the riddle teller.

Roman raised his hands in surrender, saying helplessly, "Fine, Sulph. I admit defeat. I shouldn't have tested you. But to be honest, these conditions are really good."

Tia took a sip of her black tea and was very satisfied to find that it was unsweetened.

She denied it, saying, "But this condition comes at a heavy price. What Dongya wants is not my help, but an entire future she fantasizes about, as fantastical as the heaven promised by the church—even the priests know that heaven will not come. No one can help her with this. And most people don't care whether the future and fate are chaotic, nor do they pursue the church's heaven. If the star map were to be seen after being projected into the deep sea, it might even arouse people's anger, rather than gratitude."

Roman seemed intrigued and joked, "You mean they're just drifting along, complacent and content with the status quo?"

"Of course not, Sir. In modern times, no one who survives can be considered to have lived a life of mediocrity. I mean, this is an era of progress. A predetermined fate is not necessarily what people desire. So I can't help you."

Tia explained tactfully.

Roman seemed to understand and nodded slightly. "But you're saying people don't even yearn for the Church's Kingdom of Heaven. That's just utopia, isn't it? What kind of country is that?"

Tia sighed and said, "This is why the Church failed in the Year of Faith. The true Kingdom of Heaven will never come to earth. Because most people want more than just food, warmth, and comfort."

"Those chaotic and extreme spirits are the crystallization of human desires—they want the freedom of a king and the destiny to be in their own hands; they want their own private plots flowing with milk and honey and the welfare to be provided on demand; they want servants whose lives are in their own hands and all nations and the seven gods to submit to them; and preferably, they also want a large group of sex slaves that they can control and have sex with at will."

"And coincidentally, these are all things that the church cannot satisfy. After all, you can't turn a church into a brothel and have the priests wear only coverings while the nuns expose their genitals, can you? That would be too perverted."

Roman's expression was strange. "What you said is too blatant. If a conservative priest heard this, he would probably criticize you for insulting God and faith."

"That's fortunate, the priests and nuns around me are quite open-minded."

Chapter 447 Anne and Eleanor

Shortly after sunrise, the car wheels rolled over puddles on the street in front of the Great Harbour District Police Station, splashing water everywhere.

As Tia left the police station, she could see the streets bustling with activity on this misty winter morning. Gentlemen and ladies rode in private carriages adorned with gilded badges and exquisite carvings, office workers in white shirts and suit jackets hurried along, workers in dark blue overalls waited by the roadside for public carriages to get to work, and newspaper boys ran around hawking their wares.

On this street, the carriage with the double snake broken staff crest, which exuded a touch of luxury in its understated elegance, was not particularly conspicuous.

Evelyn stopped by the carriage, looked around a few times, and then took out her pocket watch.

Outside the police station's ivory-white marble foyer, Tia casually picked up the invitation Roman had given her and stuffed it into her pocket.

The invitation was for a banquet at Silver Castle, which would be attended by many nobles, councilors, and wealthy merchants. The purpose was twofold: to welcome and celebrate the achievements of the Bureau of Expeditions and to promote the development of the Great Icefield.

The Mimir clan, which was trading with Ansu this time, was different from the previous Holmur clan. It was a medium-sized clan with only a little over 10,000 people. However, the coal and dragon blood mines they discovered were more than ten times larger than those of the Holmur clan. Therefore, the Mimir chieftain was very generous and directly put the mining rights on the table.

Vanessa, who was seeing Tia off, clicked her tongue and said, "The Mercury family's car to pick you up has arrived. But Roman is testing you; he's trying to figure out your relationship with Iris and those Arabians."

“It’s normal for them to test me. It would be strange if they just came to welcome me.” Tia nodded and said, “But Vanessa, did you notice that? Roman has been quite polite to me.”

Vanessa chuckled and said, "That's just politeness because our roles have changed. Besides, I do know Roman well. He's the one who caught me back then, and he almost sent me to prison."

"Is it that serious?"

"Ha. I had a gun back then, I was a professional spy for Iris. I even had the gun pointed at his head. But this idiot said he was betting that my gun was unloaded, trying to stall for time!"

"And then?" Tia raised an eyebrow. "You didn't kill him?"

"He made the right bet!"

Vanessa spoke with some indignation about the past, cursing and swearing in a lot of dialect, which Tia couldn't understand. Anyway, it was something like the organization's officials were corrupt, embezzling and reselling supplies, and even withholding her bullets.

This is truly a sad story.

As soon as she finished speaking, a jingling sound rang out from the other side, and Evelyn, with bells tied to her wrists, quickly walked over.

Tia didn't understand why Evelyn, who usually dressed casually, was dressed unusually formally today. She wore a lace-trimmed crescent-shaped headscarf, a black linen dress, a white pleated lace apron, and leather leggings to hold her stockings together.

The classic maid outfit, except for the skirt which is a bit too conservative, is totally to Tia's liking.