Witch, don't be so lazy

The melodious bells rang in the school.

After school.

Anke walked out of Mott's office, said goodbye politely, closed the door, and then let out a long sigh of relief.

Teacher Mott is good in every other respect, except that he is so long-winded that it really makes people feel uneasy.

Because of her serious lateness, Anko was called in for a talk. However, instead of criticizing her, Mr. Mott seemed to be worried that she was being ostracized by her classmates and was therefore developing an aversion to school.

The topic came to an end only after Anke repeatedly assured him that the trip was delayed only because of some minor friction on the road in the morning.

Then Mr. Mott spoke earnestly again. According to his observations these days, Anke had been arriving at school much later. He did not doubt Anke's diligence, but he was mainly worried that Anke was trying to save money and renting a house far away from the city center.

Speaking of which, Mott only knew that Anke had become an orphan and that the old house at home had been mortgaged long ago. He thought that Anke had been living outside with the money saved from her self-study loan, and he didn't know that she had been living in the Adventurer's Guild these days.

Feeling that it would be troublesome to explain, Anke did not intend to clarify the misunderstanding because she was in a hurry to go to Hans' shop after school.

But just as she was about to make something perfunctory, Mott's instructions made Anke's face change.

Mott meant that Anke should not live near the cemetery as much as possible, because according to the gossip from his guard friends, traces of White Walker activities seemed to have been discovered there.

An Ke was stunned.

She recalled that more than ten days ago, the Sheriff's Department published a notice in the newspaper, asking the public not to approach the cemetery because some homeless people had disappeared near the cemetery.

In fact, it is not surprising that there is trouble in the cemetery. Negative energy has been accumulating there for many years. The North does not welcome the church, the Aleman family belongs to the School of Earth, and small places are reluctant to hire exorcists. As a result, over time, some zombies and undead will occasionally appear.

However, they can't do much, and the City Lord's Mansion doesn't even need to take action. The team from the Security Bureau can easily solve the problem as long as they carry the corresponding props.

But who would have thought that this time it was a White Walker!

Well, don't get me wrong, although the name is the same, there is no Wall and Night's Watch in the North of this world, and those White Walkers are not monsters that can resurrect the dead.

In fact, they are more like gnolls with low intelligence, living underground, pale skin and toughness, and good at using ice magic. They are said to be dark creatures born from the invasion of the abyss.

According to ancient documents, as early as the ancient times when the elves' feather arrows and vines spread across the continent and the glory of the laurel crown illuminated the world, the environment and climate in the southern part, not to mention the entire northern region, were far less harsh than they are today. After being gently nurtured by magic, natural spirits could occasionally be born.

But with the erosion of the abyss, the evil witch summoned severe cold and snow, drove a large number of monsters, and even directly created dark creatures such as the White Walkers, forcing the elves to completely abandon the territory.

Even in the days of the Old Empire, the North was notoriously dangerous, with bad weather, monsters and white walkers running rampant, and only the most adventurous and experimental wizards could set foot there for a short time.

Until the empire collapsed, in order to avoid the chaos in the southern continent, the wise men boarded large ships and followed the guidance of the prophet to dock on the northern coastline.

At that time, the prophet was still a baby girl in swaddling clothes. Of course, now her name is very famous, the noble star witch, the great Her Majesty Adela.

Afterwards, when the vast starry sky bestowed great power, the tower successfully stood on the barren snowfield. When the decree was promulgated, a vigorous pioneering movement was launched in the North. Countless wizards followed one after another, cutting through the thorns and transforming the wilderness. Strongholds and towns sprang up like mushrooms after rain in the vast ice and snow, and aristocratic families of all sizes also came into being. The Harleman family was one of them.

During the long development of the North, the violent tide of magic gradually subsided. As for the raging monsters, after experiencing cruel and bloody battles, they either followed the law of the jungle and went to more desolate areas, or were completely domesticated and subdued. The most typical example is the Ice Nightmare Horse.

They are extraordinary creatures known for their outstanding endurance and fearlessness of the cold. After being tamed through contracts and training, they eventually became a common means of transportation in the North.

Oh, of course, only the big caravans can afford real Ice Nightmare horses, and ordinary merchants use the offspring of them crossed with ordinary herd horses.

In short, except for the brief outbreaks of beast tides in certain years, in the North during the rest of the time, as long as you don't go deep into the wilderness and stay in settlements and major transportation routes, you may need special luck to encounter groups of magical beasts.

But the White Walkers are different.

As evil dark creatures, tyranny and killing are deeply ingrained in their souls. They may actively attack towns at any time. Normal communication with them is impossible, and contracts cannot be signed. The only way to completely eliminate them is through war.

When Her Majesty the Bone Witch, the eighth seat in the Council, returned from underground and brought the head of the White Walker Lord back to the Tower School to be made into a specimen, the White Walkers in various parts of the North could no longer be a threat. At most, they would occasionally emerge from underground and be quickly wiped out after causing some damage.

Of course, what we are talking about here is not being able to achieve anything. That refers to the Tower Council, the capital, and those big cities where mid- and high-level wizards are stationed.

If it were a small place like Cedar Town, even a small White Walker nest would be difficult to deal with. If it were a medium-sized one, it would be a disaster that would require seeking help from the city of Arstar.

But Mott also said it.

The town still can't figure out whether it is the strong negative energy in the cemetery that attracted sporadic White Walkers, or whether a new White Walker nest appeared underground nearby.

In order to avoid causing unnecessary panic, the City Lord's Mansion did not publicize the matter, but only secretly sent people to investigate. Currently, the information is only circulated among a small number of people.

It will probably take quite some time before ordinary residents in the town can know the relevant news.

After giving his instructions, Mott began to persuade Anke to consider Hahn's invitation. Apart from anything else, being able to live in the Aleman family's territory with other classmates would not only increase the friendship among classmates, but also ensure safety. There would be carriages to pick them up for commuting, which was very convenient.

It was not until An Ke repeatedly expressed that she would consider it that she was finally able to leave the office.

……

call.

An Ke exhaled a breath of white air in the cold wind.

The appearance of the White Walkers did surprise her for a moment.

But as the saying goes, if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. The most important thing at the moment must be the Lord's Mansion. She is just an apprentice and can't do much. It's better not to worry about it. The real thing is to practice hard first.

Walking along the familiar streets and alleys, we finally arrived at our destination.

Hans Magic Workshop.

Pushing the door open and walking in, An Ke didn't plan to ask directly about the magic tricks. At least he should finish the work he was supposed to do first. After all, he was the one who needed help.

However, what was more surprising was that today Hans did not lie in the rocking chair and take a nap, but sat behind the counter, staring at the girl who entered the store.

Well……

An Ke thought, Hans was well-informed, and it was already noon, he must know what happened in the morning.

Maybe, like Luya, she was shocked by Miss Anke's outstanding performance.

There is really nothing we can do. Who makes us so outstanding?

An Ke raised her little face, put her hands on her hips, and looked like she was ready to accept questions and praise at any time.

then.

"You should pay me back."

Hans's voice echoed in the store. He stretched out his wrinkled hand and looked at the right side of Anke's coat.

"According to the contract, eighteen gold coins, no thanks."

An Ke's face darkened.

Lao Deng is so annoying, he always asks for money.

But according to the previous contract, she borrowed thirteen gold coins and had to repay Hans eighteen gold coins within one year. If she exceeded the deadline, she would have to pay additional compensation.

Not only did the old man know that she had obtained a large sum of money in the Sheriff's Office, he could even tell at a glance that she had hidden the gold coins in the inner pocket of her coat instead of the small handbag she carried with her.

How come my nose is better than a dog's?

An Ke reluctantly took out the purse from her clothes. She had only felt the warmth of the gold coins for one morning, and now she was about to say goodbye to some of them.

He slowly took out the gold coins and then slammed them heavily onto the table.

The old man took the money with a sweep of his hand, then lay back in the rocking chair, picked up the teacup, and waved casually.

"Go to work."

Tsk, what an ugly supervisor's face.

Encore made a dissatisfied sound, but in the end he still moved his little stool obediently, sat down, picked up the feather pen and started working.

A blink of an eye.

Four hours passed.

[Magic Scroll Creation +6]

[Magic Scroll Making: 665/1000/Skilled]

Anke stretched and handed the fruits of his labor to Hans for review.

Although Hans has been secretly increasing the difficulty of drawing scrolls these days, this obviously does not bother Miss Anke. Because there is a proficiency panel, there is no need to worry about production failure. Even the quality is steadily improving.

After Hans finished reading and nodded in satisfaction, Anke began to briefly describe what happened in the morning, and then went into detail about the conversation with Luna, focusing on the last sentence.

"Sister Luya asked me to ask for your opinion."

Hans obviously didn't care much about the previous content.

After Qiyangsanjiji finished speaking, he knocked on the table slowly and asked a question:

"Do you know what Mammon will be?"

"I don't know. I've only heard this name from other people."

An Ke was stunned for a moment, then thought for a moment before replying, "But based on the explanation of Mammon in the books, and judging by other people's attitudes, I can roughly infer that it might be an organization that, uh, exists in a gray area."

Mammon, combined with Hans's usual behavior, is obviously one of the seven deadly sins that the church hates, a demon that symbolizes greed and wealth.

To be honest, since most organizations named after demons are evil cults active in the dark world and keen on creating chaos.

However, observing the attitudes of Luya and Hahn, although they would give warnings and even express dissatisfaction and rejection, they did not reach the point of shouting for war and killing. This shows that the Mammon Society is definitely not one of those dark societies that mess around with blood sacrifices and disasters.

So her term is "floating in the gray area."

Hans raised an eyebrow. "Not bad, quite perceptive, but compared to the gray you assumed, we may be a lot darker."

He took out a gold coin from the drawer and flipped it.

"To put it simply, you can think of the Mammon Society as a combination of the Winter Magic Chamber of Commerce and the Adventurer's Guild, except that the goods we sell are even more impressive.

Secret information and intelligence are indispensable. The stolen goods from fraud, murder and robbery will be sold, not to mention the contraband smuggled from various places.

It sounds like there is some overlap with the business of the Huangtu Gang, but they don't have the courage or the ability to get involved in the group teasing:%Linba Wu Siliu (Eight) Qi Qi extraordinary props and magical items, but we Mammon have them.

Like the Adventurer's Guild, our bases are spread all over the world, but the internal situation is not as harmonious as theirs.

The commission from the commission platform is also a big part of our profit, but compared to the Adventurer's Guild, our content is darker.

The lighter ones include theft, robbery, grave robbing, and smuggling, while the more serious ones include assassination, large-scale blood sacrifice, and even calling upon the abyss..."

He looked at An Ke who looked strange and smiled.

"Don't look at me like that. We don't actively participate in the commission. We only provide a platform for transactions. At least the main body of the organization won't be involved. However, as long as the individual behavior of the members does not seriously endanger the interests of the Mammon Society, we will not interfere too much.

Similarly, we are an absolutely neutral organization, at least we have no clear bias as a whole. As long as we are not targeted on a large scale by other forces, such as the purges at the end of the Old Empire and the country-wide crackdowns by the Church in its early years, Mammon will not take the initiative, let alone interfere in the internal affairs of various countries.

Unless the chips offered are high enough, haha, but unfortunately, ever since the Mammon demon sold himself, no force in the world can afford to command the entire Mammon Society."

There was silence for a moment.

Anke raised a question: "Why do other countries allow your existence and development?"

Never mind the question of neutrality or not, this Mammon Society is simply a poisonous sore. Its mere existence will continuously breed bacteria, attract flies, and breed maggots.

If we want to better maintain order, we must eradicate it like other dark organizations.

"There are three reasons."

Hans smiled. "First of all, they can't do it. Historically, both the Old Empire and the Papal States have tried, but they all ended in complete failure. It's not that we're so strong that no one can defeat us, but simply that desire and greed are deeply rooted in the hearts of almost all living beings. Mammon will be everywhere, and naturally it cannot be eliminated."

"Secondly, our organization is very loose, and members are not limited to their backgrounds. As long as they wear a mask, a cloak, a disguise, and are strong enough, anyone has the opportunity to join.

This goes hand in hand with the previous reason. Instead of engaging in a meaningless struggle, it is better to go undercover and wait for an opportunity. Haha, I heard that all Mammon Society strongholds are mixed with local official spies.

Even those directors who are in charge of an entire area, once they take off their cloaks, may become well-known figures in various forces... Ah, speaking of which, the most famous person in this regard is our Golden Witch of the North.

Her disguise fooled all the directors, and she was eventually promoted to Patriarch of the Mammon Order. Unfortunately, her position was short-lived, as she was exposed the moment she came across the "Key of Pandimaanninan." However, she did manage to take away the great secret treasure, haha.

"As for the third reason, I should have guessed it from your expression. Just as Her Majesty the Golden Witch was first the Northern Director and then the Patriarch of the Mammon Society, even if her identity was exposed and she permanently withdrew from the Mammon Society, the influence she should have remained. Haha, although each faction has its own black gloves, the Mammon Society is so useful, why should it be discarded?"

A long paragraph of random and confusing words made Enke's thoughts surge.

After a long while, she finally digested the large amount of information and shook her head:

"Mr. Hans, why do you suddenly bring this up?"

"Because I want to invite you to join the club."

Hans took a sip of tea. "In the eyes of ordinary people, the Mammon Society is a dark melting pot, evil and dangerous. Good children will become evil once they enter. But they don't use their brains. Whether they voluntarily pay a large amount of gold coins to join the society or join by invitation, how can they be good people--"

He squinted his eyes. "For example, you. After you tricked those two idiots from the Desolate Clan that day, I wanted to invite you. I just thought you were too weak. But today, it seems that you are not only capable of joining the gang, but also ruthless enough. At such a young age, you can cripple more than a dozen people, and you don't even bat an eyelid. You are indeed quite evil."

What the hell?

You are slandering me, right?

Miss Anke is kind-hearted by nature, and that was all just self-defense!

But before she could argue, Hans continued, "If you want to consult me, especially when it comes to magic, then you'd better join the guild. After all, some things will cost several times more without status, and your little money is probably not enough."

A knowing blow.

An Ke was silent for a moment: "What are the obligations?"