Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 189 Requiem
When Claire walked out of the alchemy room, the entire parish was lit up with warm yellow lights.

Claire had dinner alone in the restaurant. She estimated the time and went to the side hall to find Archbishop Cecilis before the night training course began.

"Galadia?"

"Gray?"

Archbishop Cecilis was further inside the lounge. Claire looked at the sofa on one side and saw Gray with a calming smile on her face.

"Have you become familiar with each other?" Archbishop Cecilis approached them and smiled at them. "Are you looking forward to tonight's training?"

The Archbishop's courses are worth looking forward to.

But the number of participants was much smaller than Claire had imagined.

Claire asked doubtfully, "Is it just me and Gray?"

Gray shrugged and said, "Galadia, before you came, I was the only one in this training course."

Just one person?

Why does Archbishop Sersilis's course have such a high threshold? This doesn't fit with Archbishop Sersilis's image as a good teacher...

Cecilis smiled and said, "The evening course is related to the Requiem Master. It's a special training course, so Gray was the only one who met the requirements for special training."

After hearing Sersilis's explanation, Claire looked at Gray in surprise and blurted out, "Gray... is a 'Requiem Master'?"

Cecilis nodded and said, "Gray is a newly promoted Requiem Master. She's in a similar situation to you. She was also forced to take the Requiem Master potion before she had completely digested the Nightmare potion."

No wonder I always sense a calming power in Gray—this is actually a manifestation of good control, just like the slight charm that Claire retained after her body was swapped when she first crossed over.

Gray smiled bitterly, revealing a look of fear that she couldn't bear to look back on, and said:

"My captain requested that potion, but before I could find a time to take it, he took me on an emergency mission."

"At that time, traces of the Spiritual Cult were discovered near a ruin within our jurisdiction. I followed the captain to deal with the situation. I can't go into the details, but in order to stay alive and prevent the Spiritual Cult from stealing the potion, I was forced to consume it. I thought I would perish along with those cultists, and I never imagined I would actually survive..."

When Gray swallowed the potion, she intended to lose control and turn into a monster to haunt the cultists, allowing her other teammates to escape from the cultists' trap.

Fortunately, she did not completely lose control and was rescued in time by her teammates after driving away the cultists.

It's a blessing, but also a curse.

Fortunately, she survived. However, her uncontrollable Requiem Master Beyonder characteristic caused her to come into contact with the spirit world, attracting extremely dangerous spirit creatures who wanted to break through the boundaries of the spirit world and constantly pushing Grey to the brink of losing control. Such days made Grey's life worse than death.

It is a blessing to be alive when you embark on an extraordinary journey, but it is a torture to live on the edge of losing control.

"However, after participating in the training at the Holy See, my various symptoms have been alleviated. I believe that relying on the Holy See's special training and through my hard work, I can get out of my current predicament."

Even in such a predicament, Grey can still put an optimistic smile on her face. This woman's strong character is admirable.

Claire sighed in her heart.

Then, without waiting for Claire to say anything, Gray turned the topic to Claire: "Galadia, I heard Xijia mention that your sequence is 'Nightmare'."

"I took the initiative to reveal this," Sersilis explained. "None of you were promoted to Requiem Master through normal means. If this matter were to spread, it wouldn't be a good thing for you or others in any way."

Gray nodded in understanding.

Claire then asked, "Gray, you were already 'Nightmare' before, but not the captain?"

Gray explained, "I'm a night watchman in Constant City. And, while I'm not officially recognized as a captain by the Vatican, I serve as vice-captain within the team."

Claire suddenly realized.

The city of Constant, also known as the Wind City, is the capital of Jianhai County. It is an area with extremely developed coal and steel industries, ranking among the top three cities in the Kingdom of Loen. The prosperous city has also attracted the covetousness of various cultists. Naturally, the configuration of the Nighthawks team is higher than that of ordinary cities.

"You guys should have in-depth discussions in private. We need to hurry up and set off now." Sersilis interrupted the conversation between the two.

Without waiting for Claire and the other girl to roll their eyes, Cecilis pulled out two identical items from her bosom and handed them to them.

"Take this."

It was a fragile, pale square box about the size of a thumb.

Judging from the material, it's bone... Claire determined this the moment she got the pale square box.

"I'll explain it in detail in class. Now just follow me." Cecilis's figure suddenly floated up and drifted towards the outside of the parish at an extremely fast speed.

In Claire's spiritual vision, she saw a mysterious spirit holding up Sersiris.

Anyone who can control spirits so skillfully must be at least a "spiritual witch".

Of course, Claire suspected that this archbishop was a "Night Watchman" of Sequence 4 of the Sleepless Path.

Gray had already caught up with her at a fast and skillful pace. As she ran, she chanted poems to enhance her physical fitness, but her speed was only barely enough to keep pace with Cecilis.

The nightmare doll couldn't chant poems to buff Claire, and some of the wizard's methods couldn't be exposed in such a place. Claire could only rely on her pure physical fitness to run and climb.

Fortunately, her physical fitness had been enhanced during her promotions, which made Claire run faster than Gray.

Claire and the others chased Sersilis all the way out of the Tranquility Church and ran through the ice forests and snowfields of the Amanda Mountains. Just when Claire mistakenly thought that this was a night running special training, Sersilis suddenly stopped.

"Can you see it?" After Cecilis removed the spirit that made her float, the woman with glasses stood on the hard frozen ground, turned sideways, and asked Claire and the others.

In Claire's vision, on the frozen lake in front of her, she saw an unknown creature resembling a bear dog. It stretched out its white claws and penetrated the ice without any hindrance, stirring the lake water beneath the ice.

It is a natural spirit.

The power of the nature spirit came from the spiritual world. In Claire's vision, she not only saw this nature spirit, but also saw that this area was forming a wonderful connection with a corresponding area in the spiritual world.

Gray, who had taken the "Requiem" potion but hadn't fully digested it yet, couldn't see as clearly as Claire, but the vague figure behind her made her look ferocious.

Is this a sign of loss of control?
But Gray's eyes were clear.

"Are you okay?" Claire asked Gray.

Gray gritted her teeth and said, "I can hold on... I'm used to it."

At this moment, Cecilis slowly walked towards the nature spirit, and her calm voice reached the ears of Claire and the others:

"Requiem, also known as putting the spirit to sleep."

"Our ability can soothe the soul, smooth out the opponent's desires and emotions, and also keep the natural spirit in a relatively calm state." The natural spirit that looked like a bear and a dog looked up at Sersilis who was gradually approaching. The violent emotions in the emerald green eyes were dissipated by the strange fluctuations emanating from Sersilis.

Until Sersilis placed her hand on its forehead, the nature spirit even showed an attitude of enjoying the intimacy.

"This is the power of the Soul Restoration. A nature spirit in this state can be sealed within its teeth by a 'Spirit Shaman.' The small box you were given before you left is a substitute, pre-emptively granting you the ability to seal and control spirits. Of course, compared to a true 'Spirit Shaman,' the effect is far inferior. This nature spirit's abilities are enhanced strength and the ability to freeze water. Are either of you interested in sealing it?"

No wonder the threshold for this late-night course is so high - it is difficult to discover this nature spirit without the sequence of "Requiem Master", let alone see clearly the method used by Cecilis to appease the nature spirit.

Claire was able to see clearly thanks to her mutated Eyes of Prying Eyes and the Heart of the Goddess within her...

But Claire guessed that in order to use the small square box, she would need to possess certain Requiem Master abilities. Before integrating the Requiem Master's extraordinary characteristics into the nightmare doll, she didn't want to seal any spirits, lest she reveal her true identity.

Claire didn't show any intention.

Neither did Gray, she seemed to dislike these kinds of nature spirits.

Moreover, this was not the first time that Gray had participated in this kind of special training. The fact that she was able to refuse also showed that Sersilis had given them the power to choose and refuse.

Sure enough, Sersilis did not show any impatience or dissatisfaction about this. She just used her ability to send the nature spirit back to the spirit world and concealed the special connection between this area and the spirit world.

At least in Claire's eyes, this area was no different from any other place.

After that, Cecilis continued to wander around the Amanda Mountains with Claire. Before dawn, they encountered a natural spirit and an evil spirit.

Finally, Gray showed interest in the nature spirit that could only enhance the soul-soothing ability. With the help of Cecilis, she took the initiative to appease the nature spirit and finally sealed it in the assigned bone box.

Claire, on the other hand, did not use the bone box, saying she had no interest in it.

We need to speed up the production of the Requiem Master version of the nightmare doll... otherwise, it will be difficult to fool people during the next special training.

Claire sighed inwardly.

However, to encounter two natural spirits and one evil spirit in one night... The Amanda Mountains must have some connection with the spirit world.

Moreover, even if the Amanda Mountains are special, it is impossible to find such special spirits in such a dense population. These three locations must have been scouted by Sersilis in advance.

Just as Sersilis expected herself, this archbishop is really a very good and responsible teacher.

Claire had read in an obscure church book that a night school teacher named Cecilis had lost all of her students in a major supernatural accident.

After daybreak, Cecilis returned to the parish to teach, and Gray followed her to the lecture hall to attend the class. Claire asked Gray for yesterday's notes, said goodbye to them, and returned to the alchemy room.

……

Backlund in mid-October still had some warmth left.

Hugh and Viscount Glint, accompanied by a chubby-faced man in his thirties, sat in the small theater of the Rice Circus, watching the performance of the animal trainer on the stage.

"Teacher, don't we have to make a batch of potions this afternoon? Why do we have to waste our already limited time to watch this kind of performance?" Young Greylint said to the fat-faced man beside him with a tone that was a little flattering, a little puzzled, and a little complaining.

"Grelint, you need to relax a bit. You've only been a pharmacist for a short time, but you've relied on your family's resources to try to make medicine too many times in a short period of time! Furthermore, your physical condition is even worse than I expected. I don't want to collect your body before I even make back my investment."

This fat-faced man was the fat pharmacist that Tessa and Xio met at the Beyonder gathering. With their help, Greylint became the student of the fat pharmacist as he wished.

But what troubled Grellint was that his pharmacist teacher was unwilling to reveal his real name to him and only let him call him Mr. Rosen or teacher.

"But even if I want to relax, I would rather study the pharmaceutical notes than sit here and watch the clowns' performance..." Grellant muttered.

"You little idiot, the person on the stage is a tamer. Do you understand? Don't confuse a tamer with a clown, or you'll suffer greatly in the future!"

After the fat pharmacist finished nagging at Grellant with a look of impotence, he saw the trainer on the stage crack his whip, causing the black bear to do an awkward somersault. He then shouted to the trainer on the stage, "I say, that guy wanted to slap you!"

This guy is naturally referring to the black bear.

Grellint and his friends were sitting in the front row of the theater. The fat pharmacist's shouts reached the trainer's ears clearly and amused the few other audience members in the theater.

"Teacher..." Grellint covered his face and pulled the fat pharmacist's sleeve, "What are you doing? Even if you're having fun, you shouldn't do this..."

Grellant wanted to say "you're rude", but realizing that this was his teacher, he changed it to the milder "not very polite".

The fat pharmacist puffed up his cheeks, looking like he was being falsely accused. He whispered to Greylint, "How can you be so rude? Are you trying to piss me off to death? I was just kindly warning him of the danger. The big black bear under his whip is really going to give him a slap."

"Teacher, how can you know what Black Bear is thinking? You are not a black bear..." Grellint felt a little aggrieved. Listening to the continuous laughter of the people around him, these people really thought that the fat pharmacist was mocking him.

Of course, these audiences thought that the fat pharmacist was a circus agent who was deliberately creating an atmosphere in the audience.

"You are so stupid." The fat pharmacist didn't want to pay attention to the student and continued to watch the animal training show on the stage.

Seeing the fat pharmacist's reaction, Grellant thought for a moment and then asked in a low voice: "Teacher, is it possible... is it possible that we pharmacists can communicate with animals?"

"Hmm." The fat pharmacist arrogantly didn't respond, but continued to shout to the animal trainer on the stage: "That tiger wants to bite your neck off, and that curly-haired baboon wants to grab you and use you as a cushion!"

The fat pharmacist's words caused the rest of the audience to burst into laughter, and for a moment the small theater was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Only Greenlight, who didn't get the fat pharmacist's accurate answer, felt a little uneasy.

At this moment, Xio, who had been sitting silently beside him in his knight's uniform, explained to Greenlight, "Viscount Greenlight, the next sequence name after 'Pharmacist' is 'Beast Tamer'."

what?
Greenlight looked surprised. He couldn't understand how the pharmacist and the animal trainer were related. It was a bit hard to imagine.

But at this time, the fat pharmacist who heard this turned around, stared at Xiou, and said in surprise: "You little girl, you know a lot."

Whether it's from the information inside the Red Gloves revealed by Captain Galadria or from the explanation given by the "Sun" at the Tarot Club, the name for Sequence 8 after the Pharmacist is "Beast Tamer."

That's why Xio was so confident in attracting the fat pharmacist's attention with this sentence: "Mr. Rosen, is there anything about the cooperation we discussed earlier that you are not satisfied with? We can discuss it again."

In order to expand the influence of the trade fair, Xiu has been persuading the fat pharmacist to come to her to sell some potions these past two days. However, for some reason, the fat pharmacist would rather play with Greenlight about various small pills than sell truly valuable potions.

In desperation, she could only follow the other party's actions, hoping to impress him with better sincerity and a better price. Fortunately, Viscount Greenlight had been helping out in this matter in order to repay Xio. For example, when Xio was dragged by the fat pharmacist to see the circus this time, Greenlight also invited Xio.

In the back row a little further away, Tessa, disguised as Christina, watched Hugh and the fat pharmacist in the front from a distance. She was quite concerned about Hugh's cooperation with the fat pharmacist, so when there was nothing more important to do, she followed.

But at this moment, Tessa's gaze shifted imperceptibly from Hugh and others in the front row to a man with gold-rimmed glasses in the row behind them.

Although the man changed his clothing habits, modified his appearance, wore glasses and grew a beard... Tessa, who had been lurking in the Tingen team for a long time and was proficient in disguise, still recognized the man.

Those who died in the Battle of Tingen...

Klein Moretti?
(End of this chapter)