Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 145 Psychological Invisibility

In the noisy night.

In a luxuriously decorated lounge, Claire carefully observed the quaint bracelet on her wrist while sitting quietly in a high-backed chair at the head of the bed.

She noticed that some of her emotional memories were being distorted since she put on the antique bracelet. Fortunately, with the appraiser's ability combined with the function of the memory library, she could always observe the distortion of her emotional memories and correct them in time.

Although it is impossible to completely avoid being affected by this ancient bracelet, at least it has been possible to extend the use time of this mysterious item and minimize the negative effects.

While correcting the negative effects of the antique bracelet, she raised her head and looked towards the door. She saw a petite woman sitting on the sofa closer to the door.

Under the mysterious effect of "psychological invisibility", the woman was completely unaware of Claire's presence.

……

Backlund West District, Intis Embassy.

Gorgeous crystal chandeliers cast down soft light. Amidst the glittering jewels, the bankers, philanthropists, and factory owners of the Kingdom of Loen toasted each other, served by beautiful maids and handsome butlers.

Ambassador Bakerland, who had just secretly sent people to instigate some workers in the St. George district to strike, raised a glass of champagne and passionately denounced the "workers who did not value their jobs" in the crowd. He also told the guests present that in the Republic of Intis, the country was no longer dominated by the aristocracy.

"...Bankers, factory owners, lawyers, and others of your status are the masters of this country. We in Trier warmly welcome you to visit. When you come to Trier, you will find that it is a free paradise for wealthy people like us!"

After the speech, Bakerlund, pretending to be drunk, left the hall with the support of a beautiful female businessman with seductive eyes and came quietly to the lounge on the second floor amid many ambiguous glances.

A petite woman was sitting on the sofa in the lounge. Her hair was soft and curly, falling on her shoulders like thin threads. She had a casual smile on her delicate face, and her lazy eyes were like a pool of spring water.

"I was wondering who was so charming... that they could persuade the Lantini people to come to me. It turned out to be the beautiful Miss Lyonness."

Bakerram watched with regret as the charming Lady Lantini left through the side door. Knowing Beth Lyonness's temperament well, he sat down on the single sofa on the other side of the coffee table.
"Miss Lyonness, it's been a long time since we last met. I heard that you were unwell recently and were recuperating at the manor, but you look better today than ever."

Bakerram, who was familiar with Loen's upper class society and had many connections with them, did not dare to underestimate the petite woman in front of him.

The woman in front of him not only served as the white glove of the Conservative Party, but also had extraordinary appeal among the female aristocrats due to her unique ability to make women full of vitality.

Baker has always coveted the other party. He believes that once he conquers this woman, it will bring him great convenience in his work.

Unfortunately, this woman was only interested in mature women, and even if he tried his best, he couldn't attract her appreciation.

However, during their interactions, Bakerlund also saw the woman's huge ambition and discovered that she was actually involved in human trade.

During the many communications and instigations, Bakerran not only used overseas forces to help Beth Lyonness expand her slave trade, but also got her to participate in some of his actions against the Loen Kingdom, turning her into a semi-traitor.

Beth said solemnly, "Bakerland, I've been targeted by the Church of Evernight recently, and I have a bad feeling this time. I need you to help me make arrangements to seek refuge in Trier, the capital of the Intis Republic."

"Hmm?" Baker looked at him in surprise and said, "Even if they are from the Church of Evernight, I don't think they can do anything to you, right?"

Beth sighed softly, "I doubt they've discovered my human trafficking."

Baker Lang wanted to curse when he heard this. If this matter was exposed, wouldn't he be implicated as well?

However, Beckram was quite upset when he thought about how he had recently been bitten by a little bug named "Sherlock Moriarty". He had caused him a lot of trouble with the Hermoshone manuscript, and even forced him to send Sequence 5 Rosago to eliminate the other party tonight.

Moreover, the Hermothuin manuscript he had obtained also needed to be taken out of the Kingdom of Loen as soon as possible. He had already made preparations to escape.

It's a pity that I will never see these conservative and charming girls from the Kingdom of Loen again.

Baker looked at Beth who was asking him for help, and suddenly changed his mind. Isn't this woman who wants to flee overseas the best target?

As long as the operation is appropriate, he can even divert the attention of the Kingdom of Rune to this woman. In this way, he can escape from the Kingdom of Rune more easily!

Therefore, Bakerran smiled very gentlemanly: "No problem, my dear ally. To be honest, I have always had a way to leave the Kingdom of Loen. It is my honor to help you this time."

Beth, who had been looking solemn, breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you very much, Baker. I know you've always been curious about my ability to rejuvenate women. It's a magical item. When we get to Trier, I'll share this secret with you."

Hearing Beth's words, Baker said curiously, "Is it actually a magical item? Miss Lyonness, I believe you carry such a precious thing with you... Can you show it to me now?"

Baker had always imagined that it would be great if he could seize this ability from the other party. Now that he heard that this ability came from a magical item, he could not restrain his desire.

At this moment, he was even worried that this extremely valuable magical item would be buried with Beth Lyonness.

Beth hesitated, then nodded reluctantly at Baker's expectant expression. "But this magical item isn't very convenient to display. I've stored it somewhere on my body."

Baker showed a kind smile and said comfortingly: "There is no one here except you and me. I just want to learn more about this magical item."

Beth stood up from the sofa, walked to the door, opened it a crack, and looked outside carefully.

Baker shook his head and smiled when he saw this, but he didn't realize that when Beth closed the door again, at that moment, the concept of "closing the door and sealing the room" was tampered with into "sealing this place and isolating the inside and the outside"!
This is the extraordinary power of the "lawyer" approach!
During this period, no matter what happened in this room, the outside world would not be able to know! Even extremely destructive extraordinary abilities would find it difficult to break this spatial blockade in a short period of time!
When the room was isolated, the ice spear, which could be regarded as the symbol of the witch, condensed in the room in the blink of an eye!
Stab straight at Bakerland!

Although Bakerlund barely escaped the attack, his fate was already doomed in the cold eyes of "Beth"!

……

Claire sat elegantly on a high-backed chair in the corner, watching the battle between the "Pleasure Witch" and the "Conspirator."

The battle was not exciting.

Although both were Sequence 6, the use of magical items and premeditated arrangements left the "conspirator" Bakerran with almost no room to fight back.

In a very short time, Claire witnessed the entire process of Beckram, the Intis ambassador, turning into a corpse.

Under the effect of the isolation ability, the fighting between the two was confined to this lounge.

Furthermore, throughout the entire battle, both men subconsciously ignored the corner of the room where Claire was sitting, so that the entire fight never affected Claire. "Psychological invisibility can actually affect other people's perceptions to such a terrifying degree. No wonder the seller became addicted to this bracelet... I just don't know what kind of twisted emotions the seller has."

Claire muttered to herself as she slowly approached Beth, who had even had time to clean up the spoils after her victory.

Inside the room, Beth, who hadn't suffered much damage, kicked Baker's body in disgust. "I really don't want to wear a men's 'coat' unless it's necessary. Especially one belonging to a disgusting fellow like this..."

Claire stood next to "Beth" and watched Beth take out some manuscripts from her body. Beth put these manuscripts aside and continued to deal with Baker's body.

"The manuscript of the third-generation differential engine?" Claire flipped through two pages and confirmed that this was the Hermothuin manuscript that various countries were fighting for. She memorized it in her mind with her extraordinary memory.

As she memorized this, Claire was filled with wonder. The legend hadn't exaggerated Hermothuin's achievements in the slightest! This great, crazy scientist actually had the idea to create an "analytical machine"!

Unable to find more loot, Claire saw "Beth" gather up all the manuscripts on the ground and hide them in a purple lady's bag hanging on the clothes hanger.

Then "Beth" took out a silver holy dagger from her arms and danced in the air in a strange manner, a bit like she was performing a shaman dance, but it looked more elegant and beautiful.

And in the process, all the remaining spirituality of the house was completely consumed by this dance!

"Is this how this woman sabotages extraordinary investigations?" Claire secretly observed and recorded Beth's various methods.

After doing all this, "Beth" opened the door and walked out of the lounge.

"Is she... deliberately linking Ambassador Baker's death to 'Beth'? Is she so sure that blaming the Conservative Party for the ambassador's assassination won't trigger a war between the two countries?"

Claire followed behind "Beth," suspecting she must know more about the kingdom's inner workings. This knowledge might have come from Beth's memories.

Along the way, although some guests in the embassy noticed Beth's whereabouts, no one realized that Beth had just assassinated Baker.

Claire followed behind "Beth" and walked out of the Intis Embassy.

Beth hired a carriage on the brightly lit street, and Claire got in.

Claire looked at the woman next to her. Although she looked like Beth, her demeanor revealed a hint of that woman's original charm.

Because she had to distract herself from correcting the emotions that were being influenced by her hand, Claire had to remain calm, which also suppressed the desire for revenge that had surged in her heart when she saw this woman.

Looking at the woman so close to her, Claire had many questions she wanted to ask.

She really wanted to imprison the woman beside her, but considering that the Intis Embassy must be in chaos at this time, it was not a good time to fight with her.

Claire simply sat quietly beside "Beth," watching the night scene outside the carriage window rapidly recede. Slowly, the figure of "Beth" beside her began to fade.

It is the ability to "travel through the spirit world".

Without stopping her, after the woman's figure completely disappeared, Claire also floated out of the carriage and blended into the night on Backlund's streets.

……

After taking off the rustic bracelet, Claire boarded the steam subway to the West End, mentally reviewing everything she had witnessed tonight.

"I didn't expect Beth to have such a rich 'background'. Not only does she have close ties with the female nobles, she's also involved in human trafficking and even has a partnership with Intis's intelligence chief... This is something serious."

"However, Tessa has pinned the blame for the assassination of Ambassador Bakerland on Beth this time. I wonder if there's still a chance for us Red Gloves to get involved in the investigation."

"Furthermore, after this incident, that woman will definitely abandon the identity of 'Beth', which means 'Beth' will disappear completely. I'm afraid we'll have to change our strategy in the future."

Claire sighed, but she didn't regret not taking action just now.

Based on their last fight, Claire was basically certain that Tessa's magical item, which could disguise herself as someone else, also had the extraordinary ability to resist fatal damage.

Last time, Daly managed to drag the woman down to low health, allowing her sneak attack to succeed.

Ambassador Bakerland didn't cause much harm to the woman, and once she took action, Claire wasn't as confident as she was last time.

"...There will be a chance. I didn't have the chance to capture that woman tonight because I wasn't strong enough."

Claire sat on the subway seat, feeling the clanking sound, and the manuscript of the analytical engine's ideas emerged in her mind. She had a hunch that if she really put this manuscript to use, she would move faster on the road to becoming a "universal thinker"!
"Strength is the most important thing!"

As she thought about this, Claire suddenly sensed some unusual movement in the gray fog world.

Claire peered through the thick gray fog and saw the Fool appear in the magnificent palace with a broken spirit!
"It seems quite lively here at Fool?"

Muttering to herself, Claire saw the Fool using a psychic-like method to obtain the potion formula for the "Fortune Teller" path from the broken spirit!
Claire saw the broken spirit's memories from its previous life in the gray fog, memories related to the potion formula!
"This person turned out to be the Sequence 5 expert beside Ambassador Bakerland, named Rosago... He went to cause trouble for the Fool, but was killed by the Fool instead?"

"Is the Fool so powerful? Can he kill a Sequence 5 warrior?"

"But this doesn't fit with many of my previous assumptions about the Fool... Or is it that the Fool, whose Sequence is not high, possesses extraordinary means to kill a Sequence 5? This possibility is higher. After all, a Sequence 5 hasn't undergone a qualitative change yet, and there's a chance they could be killed by a lower Sequence. Not to mention, his opponent is the mysterious Fool."

From these memory scenes in the gray fog, Claire confirmed the identity of this spirit. It was a powerful Sequence 5 "Fortune Teller" path. Claire also saw the potion formulas for Sequence 7 "Magician" and Sequence 6 "Faceless Man"!
"'Fortune Teller'... This is Klein's path. Could it be that Klein is not dead? Klein is the fool?" Claire frowned in thought as she continued to observe the psychic image in the gray fog.

In the video, an old voice was teaching Rosago the extraordinary knowledge required to advance to Sequence 5: "This advancement is no longer as simple as before. The potion must be taken in conjunction with the ritual!"

Promotion Ceremony...

Claire chewed over the words in her heart and repeated them. Then she saw the recipe for the Sequence 5 "Master of Secrets" potion: "Main ingredients: Ancient Wraith... Supplementary ingredients: Golden Spring of Sonia Island..."

Glancing at the potion ingredients, Claire saw the corresponding promotion ritual: "Take the potion while listening to the mermaid's song!"

(End of this chapter)