Mystery: Mr. Witch and Ms. Hunter

Chapter 32 Preparation
After saying goodbye to Ms. Lorota, it was already past three in the afternoon. After thinking for a while, Altaïr did not go home directly, but instead called a cab and came to a small alley about two blocks away from his home.

Altaïr got off the carriage and came to the end of the alley. He took out a small key from his pocket and opened a dilapidated wooden door that no one had opened for a long time. This was one of Altaïr's secret bases. After all, it was a rather unwise move for an Assassin to keep all suspicious items at home.

Altaïr walked into the room, carefully closing the door behind him, then took out a match from his pocket and lit the oil lamp in the room with the little light coming through the dusty window. The warm fire illuminated the room, and although the room was still cold, it was at least a little comforting.

The dim light illuminated the room, revealing a few simple pieces of furniture inside: a small four-poster bed, a sofa with a large hole in the cover revealing the hollow inside, and several metal boxes in the center of the house.

Altaïr opened one of the boxes and found Holy Night Powder, two candles, one gold and one silver, a very worn incense burner, and a silver plate. Then, he found an oak staff with an amethyst inlaid on the end in a drawer. The staff was crudely made, but it did not affect its use in ritual magic.

Altaïr carefully adjusted his position and drew a simple symbolic ritual circle on the ground with holy night powder. He prepared to make a batch of talismans of the realm of night just in case. If the goddess really gained the authority of the kingdom of the god of war and could restrict those who entered the kingdom, then preparing a batch of talismans of the realm of night might be crucial.

(Here I have to complain about the setting of ritual magic in the original work by Squid. Strictly speaking, the ritual described by Squid is a high-level magic that prays for protection from the goddess, which is similar to the existence called "spirit" or magic tide in Jinchen magic. Its characteristics are frequent sanctification of ritual utensils, black and white candles, holy water and incense, etc. However, he later said in the description that his knowledge came from the lower-level magic "Wicca" that relies on moving natural energy to achieve its goals... For some reason, I will not fully describe the part about ritual magic.)
Altaïr performed a simple ceremony to sanctify the ritual knife and banish the spirits, creating a closed spiritual space. He then took up the carving knife and, expressing his spirituality, carefully carved patterns onto two pre-prepared pieces of silver foil.

He first carved two symbols of the goddess on the base material, and then carved a few obscure Hermetic words. Different from the "sleeping spell" and "requiem spell" often used by the Nighthawks, this time Altaïr carved the Hermetic words that symbolize guidance. He was going to make a "positioning spell" that was rarely used.

This spell can locate what the user wants to find within a certain range after the user infuses it with spirituality. As far as Altaïr knows, there are highly inspired "secret peepers" and another unknown profession who is also proficient in divination in the Nighthawks, so they rarely use this spell. After all, the spells of the Goddess of Night are made of silver, and each one is money.

However, this spell is still very useful for Altaïr, who only knows the magic mirror divination method. Although Venata's sequence also has a certain degree of ability to find things, it is still uncertain how much this ability can be exerted in an unfamiliar environment.

As for the Sleeping Spell, which has an active effect, Altaïr did not deliberately prepare it. Because if Sister Vesper's description was correct, then the enemy they were facing was at least Sequence 5. As a Beyonder who was not specialized in making spells, the effect of the active spells he made was very limited. Instead of trying to deal with danger, it would be more convenient to reduce the time spent in the Twilight Kingdom to reduce the possibility of encountering danger.

Then, the spirituality gushed out from the tip of Altaïr's chisel, outlining the goddess' spiritual number "7" on the surface of the silver foil, as well as a series of other materials. When he put down the last stroke, all the spirituality was connected together, and the room was suddenly enveloped by the majestic and terrifying power that surged from the magic tide. Then the spirituality fell silent, the room returned to silence, the candles were extinguished, and the darkness in the room became deeper.

Altaïr picked up a few pieces of silver foil the size of a baby's palm from the table and gently rubbed them with his fingertips. He felt the touch was warm and a little cool.

The production process went smoothly...Altaïr nodded slightly, picked up the ritual knife, and removed the spiritual wall that sealed the room, releasing the remaining spirits that had descended due to his prayers back to the spirit world. He then cleaned the altar, eliminating any traces of the ceremony, and then carefully put the talisman into the inside pocket of his coat.

However, when Altaïr reached into his pocket, he found a hard pendant-like object inside. The only thing he had that might have a similar feel was the Rose Heart of Indulgence, which he remembered clearly as he had placed it in the outer pocket of his coat.

Altaïr pulled his hand out in confusion and took out the object. It was a silver chain with a yellow teardrop-shaped crystal hanging from it. Altaïr recognized this object, a pendulum, a type of ornament often carried by Beyonders who were good at divination.

Strange, I seem to remember that I bought something similar before, but it seems that I have never bought it... And even if I have bought it, why would I carry such a thing when I can only use the magic mirror for divination? Altaïr looked at it carefully for a long time, but could not figure out what it was.

There was nothing unusual about opening the spiritual vision... Altaïr rubbed his eyes and closed the spiritual vision. There was no reaction when infusing spiritual power, as if it was just an ordinary spiritual pendulum.

Could it be that I accidentally found it when I was cleaning my room on Monday? It's possible. After all, I had a fight with Vinata that night and was spiritually depleted. It's understandable that I forgot some minor details...

Oh, I'm really a little oversensitive. I've met more high-sequence experts in the past few days than I have in my entire life. I just learned some secrets of the true gods and the secrets of the war of the gods. I've become a frightened bird. I can be scared to death at the slightest disturbance...Altaïr comforted himself.

No matter what this yellow crystal pendant is, even if it really has a history, can the level it involves be higher than that of a true God?

With this in mind, Altaïr quickly adjusted his mindset, tied the topaz pendulum to the buckle of his cuff, and wrapped it around his wrist a few times. Since he could take it out of his pocket, it would be fine to use it occasionally.

Altaïr found a long object wrapped in oil paper in another box, put it on the ground and unpacked it, revealing a double-barreled shotgun and bullets of various calibers sorted in several small cloth bags. He counted out twelve bullets, cut a small piece of oil paper with the knife he carried with him, wrapped it up and put it in his pocket.

Although assassination with cold weapons does fit the traditional image of an assassin, in today's environment, all kinds of firearms are still the mainstream. Although Altaïr has a legal gun certificate, he only has a certificate for a revolver that he used for self-defense. The high-pressure steam rifles and revolver rifles piled in this warehouse are assembled from scrap parts bought from the black market. If they are found by the police, it will be enough for Altaïr to stay in prison for more than ten years.

……

Meanwhile, Vinata was sitting by the fireplace in a daze. Her spirituality had basically recovered and she was more or less aware of how provocative her words were yesterday. She felt a little uneasy. Due to Audrey's psychological suggestion, she could not actually threaten Altaïr. If she really angered Altaïr, she would not be able to deal with it.

He didn't come back at noon today, maybe I pissed him off and he ran away... Vinata thought a little guiltily.

If he really ran away, it would be difficult to deal with him. This guy seemed to be good at housework and had good taste in home. In the East District, such people were an endangered species. Vinata narrowed her eyes, as if she remembered the scene when she escaped from the Zmanger Party headquarters and entered his house on Tuesday night. At that time, this guy was lying on the sofa, with a holy book of a sect he had never heard of on the table, and a yellow crystal pendant was tucked into the book.

Even though it was a bit hard to bear, I just moved it back to the bedroom upstairs and put the other things somewhere else.

Really...Vinata wanted to say something to comfort herself, but found that she had nothing to say.

(End of this chapter)