Early the next morning, just as the sun began to rise, Ansu activated the 【Communication Amulet】 he carried with him.
After a brief exchange, the air in front of him rippled, and Celia's magic projection emerged.
"Morning... Miss Witch." Ansu's voice still carried the lingering traces of sleep.
"Why do you look so tired?" Celia blinked, scrutinizing Ansu's state. "Did you stay up all night because of the assassination mission?"
"Not exactly, I did get some sleep..." Ansu rubbed the bridge of his nose, remembering that it was already two in the morning by the time he had finished tucking Vera into bed.
Celia frowned slightly; she knew the operation was critical, so she didn't say much else.
She could only softly remind him: "Then remember to rest early today!"
"Okay~" Ansu smiled and nodded in agreement.
Then, the conversation naturally shifted to business, as Celia asked about today's arrangements.
After clearing out the demon forces, the next step naturally fell to the two major power figures in Norvigel.
Count Alston and Bishop Gordon.
Ansu spread the organized files of incriminating evidence on the table. Celia's figure flickered to his side, lazily leaning on his shoulder as she read through them line by line with him.
After flipping through for a while, Celia couldn't help but marvel at the findings.
Whether it was "Bishop Gordon and the young boy," the private issuance of indulgences, or the massive corruption issues... every single item could be considered a major scandal.
Furthermore, there were series of secret letters exchanged with Archbishop Leonard's faction.
Once this matter came to light, this two-faced bishop, who was so 'skilled at investing,' would surely lose favor with the new pope.
When she finished reading Count Alston's dirt, Celia let out a cynical chuckle.
"Norvigel truly produces quite the talents. As expected, the further one is from the Royal Capital, the more unscrupulous these despicable power-holders become..."
"However," she reconsidered, "there are a bit too many leverage points. Any one of these is enough to make them lose sleep, let alone such a mountain of them..."
Celia looked up at Ansu and said, "Aren't you afraid that if you push them too hard, they might just cast aside all caution and fight to the death?"
"That is why we must strike the right balance," Ansu mused, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the table.
"We need to apply enough pressure to make them sweat, but not so much that we push them into a corner... to the point where they just explode on us."
So, how to threaten them was also a matter of skill.
Ansu fell into a moment of contemplation.
Bishop Gordon was relatively simple; the man was a fence-sitter and a coward. As long as the leverage was big enough, he could be controlled.
Count Alston was more difficult. The simulations showed he was ambitious and tough, even conspiring with other old nobles to create an otherworldly version of the Council of Princes... attempting to manipulate the court.
Celia felt a headache coming on as she listened to Ansu's analysis, and a murderous intent surfaced on her face. "This is so troublesome. Let's just kill the count directly!"
"That... isn't ideal." Ansu looked helplessly at the straightforward Miss Witch. He could let her go on a killing spree in the simulations, but in reality, the implications were far too great.
Killing a noble was easy, but the cult did not yet have the strength to oppose the entire Empire.
"Tsk, how annoying!" Celia curled her lips, too lazy to keep thinking. She always left these complex schemes to Ansu. "Then you keep thinking..."
The atmosphere was quiet for a moment before she suddenly asked, "Oh right, we should be able to handle these two today, right? Are you free tomorrow?"
Ansu turned his head, looking at the magic projection right beside him, somewhat puzzled.
"If the plan goes smoothly... it should be fine. Why, do you have something else?"
"I do~" Celia narrowed her eyes, her smile sweet yet brook no refusal. "Once you're finished... I want you to accompany me back to the secret base!"
"Hmm?" Ansu was slightly taken aback. The secret base... she naturally meant that hidden cave deep within the Black Forest.
He couldn't help but wonder what was so important that he had to accompany her back to that little black room.
Was it 'punishment'? Or a real punishment?
If it was the latter, it was even stranger. Celia didn't know about the events in the simulations, so for no reason at all... she wouldn't have any cause to drag him back to the little black room, right?
"Stop overthinking!" Celia laughed, as if she had seen through his thoughts. "It's not to punish you. I need you to cooperate with me to complete a magic research project."
"Magic research?"
Celia nodded and explained patiently, "Although the basic runes are settled, I've run into a lot of trouble while designing them into truly 'universal and streamlined' magic formulas. Conventional deductions and experiments are all stuck..."
Her gaze landed on Ansu's face, filled with deep expectation. "Ansu, I need your almost instinctive prophetic ability to assist me in the experiment. This step is crucial!"
Hearing her explanation, Ansu breathed a secret sigh of relief. So it really was for magic research...
He keenly caught the main point: "It sounds like this experimental process will be very dangerous?"
"Yes." Celia continued, "Combining basic runes in multiples means that if it fails, the resulting pollution is also exponential. I'm worried about suffering mental erosion, so it would be better to have you watching over me. I'll feel more at ease."
It did sound like a high-risk experiment. Ansu was worried about something happening to Miss Witch, so he met her gaze. "Alright! I'll go back with you."
Seeing him agree so readily without even a hint of hesitation, Celia's lips curled into a bright smile.
Her ethereal blue magic projection reached out a finger and playfully poked Ansu's cheek, her tone cheeky and lighthearted. "Thanks for the cooperation, Ansu. You're so good to me~"
"Of course I am..." Ansu gave a helpless smile.
He thought to himself that as long as he wasn't being locked in the little black room for real, he would accompany her in any experiment she wanted.
...
Leaving the manor, Ansu stepped onto the somewhat deserted streets.
Just like in the simulation, news of the Magic Prohibition Decree had already spread, and the atmosphere in the city was beginning to grow tense.
Church clergymen and city guard soldiers patrolled the streets. Many civilians wore expressions of obvious unease, and an invisible panic began to permeate every corner.
"It looks like... the common people are also very resistant to this decree of the count's." Celia walked side by side with Ansu on the street, her gaze scanning their surroundings.
"Yes." Ansu nodded. "After all, under the previous rule of the Alston family, the environment in Norvigel was always relaxed. The count's sudden and firm shift this time is indeed a first for many people."
As he spoke, he turned his head to look at her.
Since the first target was Bishop Gordon, and Miss Witch's task was to infiltrate the Norvigel Cathedral to steal his secret letters, she had changed into a standard church nun's habit before teleporting over.
Currently, she wore a full-length black nun's robe, her hair tied meticulously behind her head and covered by a thin, plain white veil. The Holy Light cross emblem of the church was pinned to her chest, giving her an overall appearance of piety and solemnity.
Except those lively eyes of hers were not behaving at all, glancing left and right as she walked with a light step. Real nuns were mostly rigid and would never behave so impulsively.
"What are you looking at?" Celia naturally noticed that Ansu had been scrutinizing her, so she slowed her pace and looked down at her nun's habit. "What, is my disguise... not good enough?"
"Well... it's not great." Ansu nodded bluntly.
"Why?" Celia stopped and did a little spin in front of him, her nun's habit swaying gently.
"I spent a long time getting ready in the dressing room. Don't all church nuns dress like this?"
"Because you're too beautiful." Ansu's gaze fell on her exquisite face, his tone carrying a smile but remaining serious. "If you don't change your appearance, everyone's eyes will probably be drawn to you wherever you go. Wouldn't that just expose us immediately?"
"Hmph, is that so!" Celia first gave a cold snort, but the corners of her mouth still couldn't help but twitch upward slightly.
"Ansu, are you criticizing me... or are you finding a roundabout way to praise me?"
She blinked, leaning closer to Ansu while knowingly asking, "So... am I really that beautiful?"
Ansu still nodded bluntly. "Of course."
Miss Witch's appearance after every change of outfit had become a fixed 'appreciation' segment for him.
Seeing her appear before him in a nun's habit this morning, displaying a 'pious and ascetic' temperament completely different from before, had almost made Ansu's eyes pop out.
After all... sometimes the more conservative the clothing, the more it fostered a unique kind of allure.
Besides, having Miss Witch wear the clothes of her arch-enemy, the Holy Light Church, was quite the contrast...
Watching Ansu's expression as his thoughts wandered, Celia giggled and suddenly leaned in even closer with an ambiguous air. "Ansu... since you like the nun outfit so much, then in the future... I'll wear it for you more often in private~"
Ansu saw her leaning closer and closer, while a passerby had already started peeking over in surprise. He quickly gave a light cough and lowered his voice to remind her:
"Miss Witch, be serious. What nun acts like you? Let's try to act the part, okay?"
"Alright, alright, I'll stop teasing you!" Celia chuckled and pulled back to a more reasonable distance. "Don't worry, I'm not going to sneak into the church with this face."
The two looked ahead, and the towering dome of the Norvigel Cathedral was already in sight.
After exchanging a look, they turned into a quiet alley one after the other. Celia stopped, and her face suddenly underwent a slight distortion.
Soon, an ordinary and somewhat older female face replaced her original appearance.
"How about now?"
Ansu scrutinized her for a moment and nodded. "Good, very unremarkable."
Before the operation, fearing she might miss a detail, Ansu repeated the key information in a low voice: "Remember, Bishop Gordon's secret letters are hidden in his private study on the third floor, in a hidden compartment behind the third bookshelf on the left. They are sealed with red wax... and..."
"I know, I know." Celia waved her hand impatiently, her tone carrying an air of effortless ease. "It's a small matter that can be settled in ten minutes!"
Before her voice had even faded, she had already turned around. With a slightly restrained and disciplined gait that matched her plain face, she merged into the crowd heading toward the main entrance of the church, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.
Ansu checked his pocket watch. Ten minutes? Could it really be that fast?
He walked to the corner of the agreed-upon back alley and waited patiently.
As it turned out, before the ten minutes were even up, an inconspicuous side door of the church slowly opened, and the plain-faced nun walked toward him.
Ansu looked up in surprise. A lively and smug smile that completely mismatched that face appeared on the nun's lips as she raised her hand and made a "V" sign at him.
Ansu couldn't help but laugh as he put away his pocket watch.
It really was a speedrun...
Rate on N.U.
