Miss Witch's Forbidden Book Secret

"When the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received the news, Ms. Bernice immediately set off for Wei... Wei..."

Roman coughed a few times. "Westburg, Your Highness. I now have reason to doubt the average intelligence of the Royal Navy."

Wilson glared at Roman. "Anyway, Ms. Bernice went to the Great Icefield immediately and brought us some firsthand information. Some of it should already be in Roman's hands."

Roman nodded gravely.

"A large number of fissures have indeed appeared on the Great Ice Plain. We cannot determine whether they were caused by humans or whether the blood and bones of the Seven Gods, as the giants said, have flowed out."

"These fissures have carved countless gaps between the material world and the deep sea. Many spiritual beings are pouring out from them. But when I received the message, it was still under control. These spiritual beings seem to be restricted by rules and cannot leave the ice field at all."

“But I thought you would take this matter to Parliament to discuss for three to five months. I didn’t expect Albert to have called Willen and Sulph here now.”

Wilson said, “Because the situation is changing very quickly... Just three days ago, we only found some weak spirits in the middle layer of the Great Icefield. But today, Ms. Bernice discovered that a sanctuary is rising in the icefield, and near the polar region, there are even spirits that are close to Sequence Four. Moreover, we have also found traces of humans.”

Tia frowned and asked, "Are you referring to humans? Or humanoid creatures?"

"Human—or possibly transformed spirit. That's what Ms. Bernice said, that at least He has human intelligence, may have an emotional system, and He can clearly sense the danger that Bernice is posing to him, so He is most likely a high-sequence superhuman."

Tia was even more confused and pressed for details about the appearance of this unknown human.

After finding out the truth, Tia's confusion only increased, and she vaguely guessed who the so-called "human" was.

Tia emphasized again, "About 1.7 meters tall, black hair, some prophetic abilities, strong physique, obvious tendency towards spiritualization, and ignoring the environmental damage of the extreme cold. Is that right, Your Highness?"

Chapter 454 How come you're so skilled?

"That is indeed true, Your Excellency Sulph."

Wilson rang a bell, and the door behind Tia leading to the banquet hall creaked open. A male and female waiter bowed and said, "Your Highness, is there anything we can help you with?"

"Please go and fetch my brother Albert right now. Also, please get us a fresh pot of black tea."

Wilson beckoned for the two waiters to close the door and leave, then looked at the black-haired girl who had just ascended to the position of Saint, and asked with interest, "Have you made any discoveries?"

Upon hearing this, Roman and Rashina both looked over, but were disappointed to find that Tia simply shook her head.

"Nothing was discovered. I'm just curious about what kind of people can survive and move around in that environment—it's not just spirits there, but also the frigid temperatures of the Arctic. Could it be that spirits are unaffected by the cold of the Great Icefield?"

Rashina immediately retorted, "Impossible. The cold of the Great Icefield's ice sheet zone and central polar zone is not just due to low temperatures, but also to the influence of extraordinary elements. Even spirits would be greatly harmed, otherwise everyone would have been able to explore the icefield by controlling spirits long ago!"

"That's the problem, Sister Rashina—so many spirit disturbances suddenly appeared without any warning. This means either the cause is completely beyond the understanding of the scholars at the observation station, and they haven't found a single clue, or it was caused by humans, or at least there are human factors involved."

"The former is almost impossible. There are quite a few Sequence 5 and Sequence 4 superhumans among the observation stations. As for the latter, how did these human beings enter the Great Icefield and even reach the ice field zone and the extreme cold zone? I think the sudden appearance of these humans might be the key. I think you probably think so too, Sister Rashina, right?"

Rashina was momentarily stunned.

To be honest, she hadn't considered any of that. Her rebuttal just now was simply because Tia had a mistake in common sense, not because she genuinely cared about the Great Icefield.

She didn't even want to agree to Albert and Wilson's request to go to Westerburg to help the scholars investigate the spirit riots.

But since the matter had already been brought up, and besides, Tia really was well-behaved, cute, and lovable, Rashina nodded in agreement with Tia's flattery: "That's exactly what I think. But calling me 'older sister' is a bit... I'm actually almost forty years old."

Rashina didn't seem to care much about her age. But Tia still said sweetly, "So what? Your wisdom and beauty have transcended time, and you still have an unchanging childlike heart. Calling you 'older sister' would be more appropriate, wouldn't it?"

Tia's words immediately brought Annie back to reality, who had been lost in thought. Annie first looked at Tia, then at Rashina, and instinctively wanted to pinch Tia's hand, but then she noticed Rashina looking over with a smile, and immediately felt guilty.

—You've completely switched the "call me 'sister'" dynamic to passive! Aunt Rashina's age is about the same as both of them combined!

Who exactly set this up...?

Anne was muttering to herself when she realized that she was the culprit. She blushed under Rashina's gaze and immediately buried her head in her tea, remaining silent.

Roman pulled out some icing sugar from his pocket and kept putting it into his teacup, clicking his tongue and saying, "Sulph, can't you be a little gentler with your old boss too?"

Tia smiled and said, "That depends on whether you have a childlike heart. But I think for our hardworking and dedicated Sir Roman, that's probably a rare and precious thing."

The sound had barely faded when...

With a creak, the door to the banquet hall was pushed open by a waiter. Albert clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Indeed. Roman has been completely corrupted by the big dye vat of society."

"Look, if Roman had your straightforward personality and childlike innocence, I would have revealed the inside story of the banquet to him long ago."

Roman spat, "It's all your fault, Albert! Which idiot led him to sneak into the casino back then, squander all his money, and even listed Roman Williams as the debtor?!"

Wilson's eyes widened. "Brother, is that true?"

Albert walked behind Roman like a family member pushing a wheelchair, coughing as he said, "Ahem, that was an accident. After all, I'm a prince. If Mom knew, she'd give me a good beating. And Roman, didn't you get your revenge later? You beat four or five people into a pulp and then called yourself Albert Moen. I got beaten up a lot at home."

"But today's important matter isn't about reminiscing about the glorious past."

Albert looked at Tia and Anne beside her, and said in surprise, "So it's little Anne. No wonder the sea breeze felt so refreshing as soon as we came in. But Sulph, why didn't you invite Eleanor with you?"

Tia said tactfully, "She's been a bit obsessed with playing games lately. It's somewhat addictive."

"Playing games? Card games, or those board games? Is it with that little red-haired girl in the church? But it's fine, it's better than her always hiding in her room, sinking into her nightmares."

Albert misjudged the situation.

Eleanor's internet addiction is practically the same as her nightmare. After all, aside from a handful of core members in the Internal Affairs Department, who would have guessed that their Great Guardian and the princess next door were one and the same person?

The people in the lounge didn't seem to care much about the matter, except for Wilson, who was completely baffled. He couldn't understand the relationship between "Prince Nuremberg," Eleanor, Anne, and Sulph. It felt like he was looking at a family tree, making him dizzy and giving him a headache.

Albert then formally began to discuss the Great Ice Age.

Although the previous speakers had a complicated conversation, Albert's purpose was quite simple:

Ansu is determined to acquire the minerals of the Great Icefield, therefore it now needs "Library" Rashina Willen to go to the Great Icefield and lead the Royal Society in investigating the situation there.

Tia's job, however, was not to investigate the spirit riots and world rifts, but to act as a henchman to deal with any Imperials who might come to cause trouble.

To the west of the Great Icefield lies the tundra zone with vegetation, which is actually the northern frontier of the empire.

However, the territorial boundaries of this era were not standardized, and the Imperials were unable to establish effective governance over the permafrost region inhabited entirely by barbarians. Territory was rather ambiguous, thus creating living space for the "barbarian clans of the Great Ice Plains".

But if we can't deal with the barbarians, we can at least deal with the Ansu people!

With such a large dragon blood mine and coal mine, the Empire will definitely intervene, at least not letting the Ansu people obtain resources so easily.

Their Sorcerer Supreme went to the Great Icefield on the very day he received the message from the Palace of Wisdom, but unfortunately:

—This Sorcerer Supreme was the one whose life was extended by Bernice's toy rocking horse, which caused a curse to descend upon the Empire, paralyzing its transportation for three months. His reputation was almost settled before and after his death, but he was unlucky enough to be cursed by the whole country for more than ten years after his death.

Chapter 455 The Invitation from the North

There are only a handful of Sequence 2s in the entire world.

The Sage of the Iris, the Great Prophet of the Celestials, the Supreme Mage of the Empire, plus at most the Grand Inquisitor of the Inquisition who can only be compared to Sequence Two within the Empire, and the Universal Patriarch who automatically gains Sequence Two power when he visits the Holy Throne in Herod City.

The spiritual disturbances in the Great Icefield constitute a global catastrophe, so the Empire will certainly send its highest forces to investigate.

Since the Grand Inquisitor cannot travel abroad, only the Supreme Master can go.

This puts the Ansu people in an awkward position.

Ansu’s exclave of control, Westerburg, in the Great Icefield is not on the coast, so the Royal Navy cannot go there to provide support. They can’t very well send Peter to it, can they?

The island is truly powerless, and Peter's mishaps abroad have caused a huge uproar. Ansu's order is incompatible with unsheathed blades; it only needs stability, not turmoil.

Bernice struggled to deal with the Sorcerer Supreme alone, and the Empire could easily inflict heavy losses on the Anzu mining operations and the Westerburg observation post with just a little effort.

That's why Albert was in a hurry to call Tia over as well.

However, Tia is indeed interested in the Great Icefield.

First, of course, was the human figure that appeared on the Great Ice Plains—a human who resembled Avina.

In her conversation with Rashina, she consciously used the authority of the Duke, who had been staying at home for too long and had become simple-minded, to mislead Roman and Wilson.

Who knows if the anomalies in the Great Icefield are related to Aviana, but the more Ansu pays attention, the more information she can get from Ansu about Aviana.

Secondly, there are the spirits and sanctuaries emerging on the Great Icefield.

Tia needs knowledge now, a lot of knowledge, such as the Black Sea Book, which she hasn't even finished reading yet (10% complete).

Relying solely on memorization is too tedious; she has a more efficient method:

Trade directly with spirituality and silver doors.

But this method is a bit laborious. She can't very well transform into a cult leader and the embodiment of an evil god, drag her sanctuary to the surface, and then use it to trade with Silverdoor.

The spirits on the Great Icefield became quite a delicious snack.

However, Tia couldn't reveal these things to anyone else. After Albert finished explaining his plans and the reward, he invited the group to the banquet hall.

Anne pulled Tia's wrist and found a corner to sit down, complaining, "This is clearly just using you, Tia, against the Empire! You've only just been promoted, and the royal family is already impatient. The Moen family is so disrespectful... not counting Eleanor."

Anne added a sentence right after she finished speaking.

Tia went to the food cart and took a few pieces of cake. She fed one to Annie and said, "I heard from Wilson that there was a spirit riot in the Great Icefield, and I felt like I was going to have to do hard labor here. But it's okay, I was planning to go to the Great Icefield anyway."

"Huh, why?"

"Because the prophets—those prophets sent the message to Ansu first. Not even to the closer and more related empire."

"You mean the Palace of Wisdom is inviting you to come over?"

"almost."

"I also need to go."

"Go if you want to."

Tia had no objection and forked the cake to Annie's lips.

Instead, Annie glared at her, but still reluctantly took a bite of the cake, muttering, "At this point you should be excitedly saying you absolutely, absolutely can't go, right? Just like Mom."

"why?"

"Because it's dangerous!"

"Then I'll protect you."

"Um~~~"

Annie took two bites of the cake and found the cream to be surprisingly soft. She also noticed that the cake base was electrified, giving her a tingling, numb feeling as she bit into it. She murmured a few words of enjoyment.

It felt pretty good.

However, this atmosphere didn't last long before it was interrupted by a gasp from afar in the banquet hall.

In the distance, Duke Edith was surrounded by a large circle of nobles and wealthy merchants, who kept toasting him and chatting with him.

At that moment, several nobles closest to Duke Edith exclaimed incredulously, "You mean Black Robe Rexar has announced his retirement!"

Duke Edith raised his glass and sipped slowly, saying, "It happened this afternoon. Master Rexar officially announced the disbandment of the Hand of Conversion, but most of their main warlocks were wiped out by the Society during the Mistmoon Rebellion."

"What about the nobles in the iris-patterned robes within the empire? And Lord Sazdive, the warrior monk, and the border legions? Are they still alive?"

"Those useless Iris people have given in to their republican authorities, hah, but it was expected. Those conservative nobles can't hold onto anything! As for the monk Sazdive—"

Duke Edith smacked his lips and said, "Who knows what that monk is up to? Anyway, he hasn't returned to the Hand of Conversion since the civil war in Mistmoon. The border legions... were forced to surrender by an interesting young man and an old man who's about to be buried. What's his name? Well, it's that minister who used to set off bombs."

"Sir, it's Milke."

"Yes, Milke, the one who studies ritual studies. Similar to Velen, he looks honest and unassuming, but when he gets angry, it's like the earth shakes. Who knew he wouldn't stay quiet even after retirement? After being captured by the Hand of Transformation, he was sent to the Legion that was confronting the Silver Mist Border with that young man."

"As a result, that young man led his men to kidnap the captain of the warship... his name was something like Sothai, and sailed the ship to the central army camp. Under the cover of the commotion and Milke, they kidnapped the newly appointed legion commander and sent him to White Deer Fortress."

"First Nara Selassie was gone, then the legion commander was gone, and now the Hand of Transformation has been disbanded. These royal troops are probably not far from surrendering."

The nobles were all astonished that the young man from the Iris Flower family lacked martial virtue, and then they boasted about how their own children could do some work for them, if they didn't mind, and so on.

Duke Edith chuckled and refused, saying, "These are all aftershocks of the great earthquake that shook the Mist Moon. Instead of coming to me, you should try to build a relationship with our Lady Tia Sulph. She has recently been promoted to Saint."

"Sulph...is she the one who received the medal last year?"

"The Father of All Things! She's still so young, how did she become a saint already? Pope Peter was also a saint in his thirties..."

"What's so strange about that? King Solomon conquered Herod when he was seventeen. King Rudd was only in his early twenties when he made the bet with Bloodthorn in Mistmoon. And I heard that Scarlett, the governor of Mistmoon, was also a young man?"

"Why does this name sound so familiar?"

...........

Hearing the shouts and commotion in the distance, Wilson was still completely confused about the relationship between Tia, Anne, Eleanor, and Prince Nurem.

Albert had the waiter close the corridor door, came out for a bit of fresh air, and asked Wilson, "Where's Sulph? Is she still at the banquet?"

"When the clock struck ten at the Holy Spire, she and Anne took their leave. Rashina did the same; she seems to have invited Sulph to her residence to discuss some matters. Roman, however, is still here."

Wilson couldn't help but ask with concern, "So, brother! Does Prince Nurem also know Sulph?"

"What Prince Nurem? What the hell are you talking about, Wilson?"