Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 135 Comfort
"The common characteristic of the victims is that they are women, and they are all street prostitutes."

Dai Li was wearing a black robe and blue eye shadow, and her gloomy expression made her look a little sinister.

Claire sat up straight in confusion and asked, "Why...is there some kind of ceremony that requires a woman of this status?"

Daly's voice deepened. "Not really. Based on the current investigation, I'm initially judging this to be a quirk of the killer's. Furthermore, the death of a woman of this stature is always easily overlooked... I even suspect the true number of victims is more than six."

Those who wield the sword always strike at the weak. The brilliance of the brave is always as tiny as a firefly, which is why it touches people's hearts.

Claire asked Daly to continue cooperating with Al Hassan's Nighthawks to investigate the case, while she inquired about various incidents related to the serial murders from various police stations.

During the inquiry process, Claire also specifically investigated the character information of "Tessa".

Although some "Tessa" were found, it was easy to confirm based on the personal information of these people that they all had the same name.

Claire wrote down the information about "Tessa" and planned to investigate them one by one on the spot, but she no longer had much hope for this method.

……

With her long black hair gently falling in front of her chest, Tessa lay on the roof, gazing at the starry sky intently.

"'The destination of gazing at the stars is only madness', Tessa, you have forgotten the warning of Lady Despair again." The enchanting lady, whose charm could not be concealed even by her clothes, swayed her steps and sat down next to Tessa.

Tessa smiled, and her starry eyes turned to look at the woman beside her: "Sit closer, I'll show you how crazy I am, Dimalia."

Looking at the mad chaos in Tessa's black eyes, the "Witch of Pain" Lady Dimalia was silent for a moment, then stood up and moved a little further away.

After sitting down again, Mrs. Dimalia said again: "You seem to be in a good mood. Is there something to be happy about?"

Tessa sat up with a calm expression. "Mrs. Dimalia, do you always have to beat around the bush when you speak? Just get straight to the point. What's the matter?"

Madam Dimalia shrugged and said, "Do you know Alicia, one of the Night Watchmen of the Backlund Diocese?"

"Who is that?" Tessa looked puzzled.

Madam Dimalia said, "I remember telling you about the head of the Nighthawks of the Backlund Parish, a 'Gatekeeper.'"

The doubt in Tessa's eyes faded, revealing a look of looking at a fool. "I remember you once said that this 'Gatekeeper' had killed more than one Sequence 5 enemy."

Mrs. Dimaria's tone paused, and she sighed, "This isn't an assassination mission... I'm just asking you to investigate whether there's a deeper connection between this 'gatekeeper' and the Negan family."

Tessa was truly confused this time: "The Negan family? That noble family that's been hooking up with the Church of the Storm? How is it connected to the Nighthawks now?"

"That's what I'm wondering about," Lady Dimalia said. "Do you remember the assassination of Duke Negan? It was the assassination led by Vice Admiral Hurricane Qilingos."

Tessa sneered, "This is the result of arrogance. Just because someone calls you 'Vice Admiral Hurricane,' who has traversed the five seas, you think you can do anything."

Without giving Tessa a chance to continue her sarcasm, Lady Dimalia interrupted and said:

"According to our intelligence, Qilingos actually had a chance. At the time, Duke Negan's greatest security guarantee, the Storm Church's Bishop, the Singer of God, had been delayed by other matters. Unexpectedly, the Gatekeeper, Alicia, arrived just in time."

"Initially, we all assumed that the nobles of the Church of Evernight came to the rescue of the Nighthawks, leading to Alicia's arrival... But the latest intelligence confirms that Alicia was personally contacted by Duke Negan to help."

After hearing these words, Tessa's first reaction was, "How could the witches confirm such a private act of Duke Negan? Even a powerful noble like Duke Negan has members of the witch sect around him?"

Tessa said indifferently, "Even if Duke Negan can call Alicia, what can he prove? The Nighthawks protecting a noble from the Kingdom of Loen is not surprising to me."

Lady Dimalia said:

"But this will affect some of our arrangements. We need to confirm whether this was an accidental act by Alicia, or whether Alicia herself has a deeper connection with the Negan family. Or even whether the Nighthawks have established a more secret and deeper connection with the Negan family?"

Tessa thought silently for a moment before asking, "What can I gain from this mission? And why do we need to confirm this?"

"Don't you want that magical item from the 'Lawyer' path? Or maybe you can accumulate it in the next reward and use it to redeem your promotion potion."

Madam Dimalia said, "As for why we need to confirm this matter...it's because we need to follow the trend of the times."

……

Late at night, when Claire was thinking about where to start investigating the person behind the scenes in Omlight Town, the gray fog world that had been silent for a long time suddenly began to move.

Claire saw the Fool sitting in a high-backed chair at the head of the table.

The Fool stretched out his hand and pointed at a circle of light that was constantly rippling. It seemed that the Fool's spiritual energy was constantly pouring in, causing the entire gray fog world to tremble slightly.

During this tremor, Claire saw a hazy, petite figure appear beside the long bronze table.

But the figure only flashed by.

Claire sensed that the Fool had taken the initiative to sever the connection with the petite figure.

After the figure disappeared, Claire saw a cluster of illusory crimson stars appear in the gray fog.

"Is the Fool trying to recruit new members again? But why did he lose contact with them the moment he made contact?"

Claire still remembered the last time the Fool tried to recruit the "Sun" boy into the guild, and he had a very detailed conversation with him.

"Is there something special about the person who was pulled into the gray fog world this time?" Claire couldn't figure it out for the time being.

She only saw the vague and distorted figure of the fool who had completed these meaningless acts dispersing from the high-back chair.

……

After receiving a summons from the church, Claire went to the small prayer room in St. Samuel's Church, where she often went. Hugh, wearing a gray cloak, sat in a chair with an uneasy look on his face.

"Even the goddess's followers rarely come to the church to pray late at night," Claire sighed. "But judging by your appearance, have you encountered something?"

"I disguised myself when I came here..." Xio stood up from his chair, looking a little panicked. "Captain Galadilla, you told me to pay attention to Miss Audrey's abnormality before... I think I seem to have discovered the abnormality you mentioned..."

Claire was stunned for a moment. Quinn's clear panic suddenly reminded her of the petite figure that had just flashed by in the Tarot Club.

Claire exuded spirituality and used her nightmare-stabilizing techniques to soothe Xio's emotions. She said, "You have no need to be afraid here... The goddess protects us. What did you discover?"

The title of Righteous God calmed Xio down slightly. She took a deep breath and said awkwardly, "I'm actually not sure if this matter is related to Miss Audrey... I was just out of fear and couldn't help but exaggerate my description to you..."

Claire looked nonchalant.

Xio relaxed a little and continued, "During the day, Fors and I attended Viscount Glint's party. It was a gathering of our small circle, and Miss Audrey was also there."

"I heard from Viscount Greylint that he wanted to invite you, Captain, but he didn't get in touch with you."

Claire nodded. Grallint should have come to invite her when she went to the town of Omlite, but she just missed him.

Xio's mood had calmed down considerably. He said slowly, "Viscount Grallint has a lot of books. I saw Miss Audrey ask Viscount Grallint to borrow them and he agreed. So I also asked Viscount Grallint to borrow 'History of the Nobility of the Kingdom of Loen' and 'Heraldry.'"

"In the evening, Fors went to an author's gathering. I had nothing else to do, so I flipped through 'History of the Nobility of the Kingdom of Loen'... and I accidentally found this old piece of paper in the interlayer of the book."

Xio became nervous again. She reached out and took out a piece of old paper from her bosom and handed it to Claire.

Claire took it and glanced at it before seeing Chinese characters on the front: "Not from this era..."

After just a glance, Claire cautiously stopped reading silently.

This description is clearly the Fool's three-part description of the honorific name...

Seeing this Chinese character, Claire instantly confirmed that the petite and hazy figure that had just appeared in the gray fog world must be Xio Diercha!
On the back of the paper is ancient Hermetic text, which is obviously the translation of the ancient Hermetic text with Chinese characters on the front.

Claire deliberately frowned and asked, "Did you recite the description above?"

Xio nodded with a bitter face. "I thought this was the special symbol that Viscount Greylint's ancestor had deciphered, so I began to decipher it very carefully. Only after I finished deciphering it did I... think it was the name of some hidden being."

Claire listened and thought in her heart:

Xio interpreted this description in the evening. Because it wasn't an obvious prayer, I didn't notice any ripples in the gray fog world at the time.

Plus, the Fool didn't go up to the Gray Mist World to respond at that time, so I missed Xio's "prayer"?
It wasn't until the Fool ascended to the Gray Fog World late at night that I discovered this...

The Gray Fog World has been silent for a long time, which has made me relax my perception of the Gray Fog World... This relaxation must be corrected!

"Then why did you come to me now?" Claire asked.

Xio said sheepishly, "After I silently recited this ancient Hermetic text, nothing happened. I thought it was a prank by Viscount Glint, or just an incomplete ritual that wouldn't attract attention."

"But just now in my dream, I saw endless gray fog, an ancient high-backed chair, and a dark shadow looking down at me! I can't tell if it was a nightmare caused by fear, or an evil spirit haunting me due to the gaze of a hidden existence!"

Quinn's voice returned to panic.

Claire gently patted Xio's shoulder, then devoutly drew a crimson crescent on her chest and said, "Goddess, we have nothing to worry about."

The devotional rhythm calmed Hugh.

Xio tried to make his voice sound steady and whispered, "Captain Galadilla, which one do you think my situation is..."

"An incomplete ritual might indeed attract the attention of some hidden beings, especially evil gods." Claire had extensive experience in this area.

"But you only saw an illusory figure. Plus, your body hasn't shown any obvious mutations yet. This proves that your condition isn't as dangerous as you worry."

People in a panic really want someone to act as their backbone. This is exactly what happened to Xio, and the woman in front of him is a mid-level cadre of the Goddess Church.

Sitting in St. Samuel's Church, listening to Claire's words of comfort, Xio slowly felt that everything she said was right. She sincerely hoped that everything she said was right. "Then... Captain Galadilla, does our church have any purification rituals?"

Claire smiled gently. "Xiu, you have to know that pollution is difficult to purify. And as for the evil spirit, if you really believe there is an evil spirit in you, would it dare to possess you and come here?"

Claire turned serious. "Xiu, all you can do is be vigilant. If... I mean if, you encounter something like this again, you must seek help immediately, just like you did today. Although there's no purification ritual, the goddess will protect you here. I swear on my heart."

Claire had not lied to Xio with these words. As early as the Tingen period, Claire had prayed to the goddess and confirmed that the goddess paid attention to the Fool and the Gray Mist World.

Not to mention that the Fool has not shown any tendency to harm members at the moment.

Even if the Fool had such a tendency to harm, Claire was confident that her prayers to the Goddess would protect him, as she felt the peace that the "Heart of the Goddess" had just responded to her.

Besides, if the Fool is really Leonard... that guy is also a guy with a casual appearance but a gentle heart...

Hearing Claire's words, Quinn nodded firmly and tapped his chest four times to create a crimson crescent. "Praise the goddess. And thank you for your guidance, Captain Galadilla."

Claire thought that since Xio had already established a connection with the Gray Mist World, he would be dragged into the Tarot Club sooner or later, and by then Xio would surely become anxious again.

Claire then said, "If you don't make it to the church in time, hold on to the 'identity badge' on the red gloves at the critical moment."

It wasn't that the "badge" had any special effect, but if Xio were to come into contact with the gray fog world again, Claire would be able to sense it at the same time and use her nightmare ability to comfort her from a distance afterwards...

When Xio heard Claire's additional words, he couldn't help but press the badge hidden in the lining, and his mood became more stable.

(End of this chapter)