The Forced Book Witch

Unlike Su Ran, who had chatted all night and then slept in, Isa had barely closed her eyes for long on the bed before she was shaken awake by Philly.

“What happened?”

Through blurry eyes, Isa saw Philly’s silhouette.

She knew Philly wasn’t one to disturb her rest for no reason, so Isa asked with her eyes still closed.

“Butler Sant sent me a message through the trees early this morning. The distinct change in magic essence last night has alerted the Blackstone City church. We need to leave as soon as possible. He has everything ready and is waiting for us.”

After Sant saw them out of the city yesterday, Philly had specifically arranged to use a particular tree to pass messages to her for convenient contact.

She hadn’t expected to use it so early this morning.

“Then let’s hurry up. I don’t want the church’s people sneaking up behind us.”

Hearing Philly’s words, all of Isa’s sleepiness vanished, and she sat up abruptly.

Despite being under the protection of Her Highness Su Ran, Isa really did not want to experience being constantly pursued again.

After a simple tidying up inside the small cabin, Philly packed the cabin away as instructed by Isa.

The three of them set off towards the meeting place designated by Sant.

After walking for a while, the three of them found Sant and Canlisa, along with a prepared carriage, on a hidden path next to Blackstone City.

Seeing Maimai’s appearance, Sant’s expression remained calm and undisturbed.

To him, it didn’t matter how many people came, as long as they could complete the cooperation as requested by the Lord Mayor.

After meeting, Sant first bowed deeply to Isa and the others.

“Ladies, please allow me to apologize on behalf of Lord Hayden. But since this matter involves the Church, we can only set off urgently. I hope you understand.”

“It’s alright. We were the ones who caused the commotion, after all.”

Isa stepped forward and helped Sant up.

If it weren’t for the excessive amount of magic essence she needed for her advancement to Sequence Three, Her Highness Su Ran wouldn’t have activated the magic circle, causing the distinct change in magic essence concentration.

As Sant was helped up by Isa, he noticed Philly’s hesitant expression off to the side and understood.

He smiled slightly and took the initiative to say, “Regarding news of the Witch of the Book, Lord Hayden has already entrusted me to convey it to you.”

Sant’s words made Philly and Maimai’s spirits rise.

…the thought of accepting the commission arose in her mind.

“It’s like this. Ever since the Lord Mayor had the idea of sending Canlisa to Tukulu, he has been paying close attention to news about the Witch’s Society. Recently, when he learned that the Church was planning to send troops to Tukulu again, he heard a rumor that had appeared in Tukulu…”

“What rumor!” Philly asked anxiously.

“The leader of one of the mercenary forces that controls Tukulu is forcing the Witch of the Book to accept his marriage proposal. Otherwise, facing pressure from the Church, they will unite with others to expel all the witches from Tukulu.”

“Despicable!”

The intelligence Sant brought to Philly was simply too shocking.

Because Tukulu was a chaotic zone between various nations, the right to speak in this place had always been held by several powerful mercenary forces.

The witches had chosen to establish the Witch’s Society headquarters here precisely because the influence of various nations was extremely weak in this place.

The mercenary forces of Tukulu might not have been able to act against the witches of the Witch’s Society headquarters initially, but the other witches living peacefully in Tukulu would be implicated by them.

If, in the face of the Theocracy’s army, Tukulu expelled all the witches within its borders, then the displaced witches would have to face a large number of church knights alone.

Even if the Witch’s Society wanted to help, their reach would be too short.

Most critically, the expelled witches would certainly not surrender without a fight.

If their resistance were to affect other mercenaries, it would inevitably push those mercenaries to the opposite side of the witches, leading them to support the order to expel the witches.

Once the anti-witch sentiment in Tukulu fermented, there would truly be no place left on the entire continent for witches to take refuge.

By using the timing of the Theocracy’s military expedition to force a marriage proposal on Lecy, the other party had clearly seen these points, sealing off all of Lecy’s escape routes and leaving her with no way out.

“When did this news arrive?”

At this point, simply getting angry on the spot wouldn’t solve any problems.

The only thing Philly could do was to hurry back to the Witch’s Society headquarters with Isa and the others.

If they could get Lord Su Ran’s help, they could definitely resolve Lecy’s predicament.

“About seven days ago.”

Hearing Sant’s answer, Philly was no longer so anxious.

According to Maimai’s orders, the witches they had led away would be returning to Tukulu in the next two days.

With this group of combatants back under her command, the mercenary forces wouldn’t push Lecy too hard.

As for themselves, if they set off now, it would only take a few days to reach the Eastern Border.

“In that case, let’s set off.”

Isa had been listening quietly to their conversation from the side.

Even if she didn’t quite understand what the news from Sant meant, from the anxious expressions on Philly and Maimai’s faces, she knew it was not good news.

Sant pulled open the carriage door, letting the women get in.

“Where’s Canlisa?”

Looking around and not seeing Canlisa, Isa asked strangely.

As she asked, a “meow” came from inside the carriage.

A long-haired cat, pure white all over, was curled up on a soft cushion inside the carriage, greeting them with its two different-colored eyes.

“Miss Canlisa usually prefers to be in the form of a small cat.”

Sant explained the situation to Isa.

Since everyone was present, and seeing that Isa and the others were seated in the carriage, Sant flicked the reins in his hand, and the carriage slowly began to move forward.

“Alright, this morning’s on-the-job training ends here. Xiao Ran has learned the basics of the Sakura Cafe. We’ll continue to reinforce them tomorrow.”

Winnie clapped her hands, signaling to the two that the morning’s training session was over.

Su Ran’s debut day was still a while away, so Winnie didn’t plan to schedule all the lessons in one day.

“Xiao Ran, do you want to go shopping with us?”

Taking the tray from Su Ran’s hands, Yuan Shirui asked casually.

“The mall we’re going to specializes in selling food with magic essence, not your average supermarket.”

To pique Su Ran’s interest, she even added a sentence at the end.

“Under normal circumstances, Su Ran might have been tempted by Yuan Shirui’s words, but she had something important to do today.”

“I’m planning to go back to my old house for a bit. I left in such a hurry yesterday that I forgot to turn off the power, so I’m sorry.”

Finding a reasonable excuse, Su Ran declined Yuan Shirui’s invitation.

Yuan Shirui, who had thought she could go with Su Ran, drooped her head listlessly upon hearing the news.

“Okay then. Xiao Ran, be careful and remember to come back tonight.”

“Mm,” Su Ran nodded in agreement.

Thus, only Winnie and Yuan Shirui headed to the underground garage, while Su Ran chose to exit the elevator on the ground floor.