“So it seems quite a few people were driving the narrative against the Witch race on the world channel back then.”
“Inciting hatred?”
“I think it's very likely. After all, there are plenty of people who can't stand us.”
“Interesting. So these guys popping up now are nothing more than clowns?”
“They might be thugs, or maybe they're just being used as pawns.”
“Heh. Regardless, anyone who laid a hand on us won't have an easy time from now on,” Margaret said darkly.
Though they were all administrators and ministers, truth be told, none of them were easy to talk to. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe them as a ‘bunch of bad seeds.’
Even the one who packaged herself with ‘knowledge’ was no exception.
“That Adele is something else. Why didn't she put these things in the report?”
“It probably wasn't convenient to put in writing,” someone guessed.
Everyone thought that made sense.
Such matters were indeed ill-suited for a formal written report.
Actually... it was more that after three months of investigation, even with solid evidence and numerous cases, it was already a feat for Adele to write a hundred-word report.
Expecting that freedom-loving girl to put more important details in a report was simply impossible.
She was much better at talking than writing.
Even a private chat would have been better than a formal report.
Indeed, Adele hated ‘formality.’
“Alright, speculating now won't help,” Diana said, rising from her chair and clapping her hands to draw everyone's attention.
“It's one thing when we didn't know, but now that we do, we can't just sit idly by.”
“Susie, go to the Witch's Tea Party later and tell the witches not to act alone for the time being.”
“Got it.”
“Margaret, when you have a moment, contact Adele. See if we can get the witches scattered across the world to relocate to the Abandoned Land. If they refuse even after the situation is explained, then wish them luck.”
“No problem.”
“Bei Adolis, send a message to the Witch Group. Explain the situation and tell them to be careful.”
“Understood.”
Bei Adolis nodded.
The lives of the witches outside were important, but internal stability had to come first.
The members of the Witch Group controlled the protection magic circles of the entire Abandoned Land. If something happened to them, it would affect the whole region.
Witches on the outside were a minority, after all.
The vast majority were in the Abandoned Land.
Although they didn't know exactly what those people were planning, if they were determined to collect witch blood, they would eventually come to the Abandoned Land.
“Nangong Lengyue, investigate who's pulling the strings. Focus on the Demon race. Also, find out what they intend to do with the witch blood.”
“Right.”
Diana issued her orders calmly.
She wanted Nangong Lengyue to focus on the Demon race primarily because Xin Tianle’s previous actions made them the top suspects in her mind.
After all, Lan Qingyou had exposed that race's weaknesses back then.
Ursula had even made a major selling point out of those mushroom spores afterward.
Word was they sold quite well.
If anyone hated the Witch race most, it was definitely the Demon race.
As her orders were issued one by one, fewer and fewer witches remained in the room.
Once everyone had left, Diana finally let out a sigh of relief.
These were truly troubled times.
As soon as the Clan Leader was trapped, this happened. It was clear that this sequence of events was being orchestrated behind the scenes; it couldn't be a coincidence.
Bei Adolis's words earlier had given her an idea.
In the past, whenever Lan Qingyou or the Witch race made a move, there would always be people on the world channel making snide remarks.
At the time, they all thought it was just bitter jealousy, so no one took them seriously.
But now it seemed those people had been preparing to strike at the Witch race for a long time.
If that was the case, it explained why they had been so tirelessly persistent.
Tsk...
They had really been playing the long game.
In all likelihood, this plan—whose ultimate goal remained unknown—must have started a long time ago.
At least since the number of witches had begun to grow.
Diana guessed that the ‘plan’ itself had probably been revised many times to fit the information they gathered.
This was the final version.
Or perhaps it was the version implemented specifically because the Clan Leader was trapped in a dungeon.
Thinking of this, Diana suddenly realized she had overlooked something during her assignments.
She took out her card and sent a message to a friend she had only recently made.
Everyone knew this person.
It was Lilith, who was similarly plagued by a headache over her own leader's disappearance.
Since the other party was a vampire, she would surely know more about blood matters than a witch.
“So you're saying your people are being hunted, and the target is their blood?”
Lilith frowned after hearing the general situation.
“Yes. To be honest, I still haven't figured out what their goal is.”
Diana and Lilith had gotten in touch about a week after the disappearance incident, when Lilith could no longer bear the wait.
After three months of getting to know each other, they had reached a point where they could complain to each other about work frustrations.
“...If you trust me, give me a drop of your blood. I'll examine it and see if there's anything different or special about it.”
Lilith had been frowning when she first received Diana's message.
But considering the possibility that her own Eminence might have been caught up in this because these people needed to act, she decided to help resolve Diana's doubts first.
“Of course, that's not a problem.”
Blood.
It was a powerful magical medium.
Among all mediums, blood was the most mysterious.
The ‘mystery’ here didn't refer to professional knowledge like DNA or gene sequences.
It was strictly from the perspective of Mysticism.
At lower levels, things like monster blood or magic plant sap could serve as materials for Alchemy, Enchanting, Cartography, Semiotics, Runology, and several other disciplines.
Of course, if one was so inclined, their own blood could also be used as a consumable.
And at higher levels, it was truly advanced.
Blood left behind from ancient bloodlines could be made into various evolution items, allowing weak Blue Star people to evolve into entirely new races.
It could be said that blood played a very broad role on the Kalim continent.
The industries it touched were vast.
Thus, many people were actually conducting research on blood.
Among them, vampires were undoubtedly the most uniquely gifted for such research.
They didn't even need complicated research steps; they only had to put the blood in their mouths to get a general analysis.
“I've got a general idea of the situation. Do you want to hear it?”
Rate on N.U.
