Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 197 Replacement
All speculations ultimately require sufficient strength to be verified.

After briefly pondering the goddess's long-standing protection and the experiences of Klein Moretti, the Fool, Claire let go of these thoughts, looked down at Tessa, and said:
"Since you have such thoughts, why do you still dare to accept Alicia's identity? Aren't you afraid that you won't be able to leave St. Samuel's Church?"

Tessa shrugged, causing her pajamas to slide down slightly, revealing her slender shoulders and collarbones beneath the white pajamas. She said, "You once told me something that's also from Russell's famous quote, 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained!'"

Claire's heart skipped a beat. She had indeed been charmed by Tessa's ascension to the Witch of Pain, so much so that her heart was stirred by her little actions. However, she quickly adjusted herself and even had the leisure to taunt her, "So you keep jumping into the tiger's pit."

Knowing the dangers of the original witch, he still wanted to infiltrate the witch sect. He suspected that the goddess of darkness was planning something, and yet he dared to run to the church of darkness...

Tessa leaned back in her chair, raised her head slightly, and said in a low voice, "You too? According to my original arrangement, wouldn't it be nice for you to live peacefully as a noble girl?"

Peace... Along the way, Claire realized how precious the "peace" that she once thought was ordinary was. How many people desperately wanted to live an ordinary life but could not get it.

Without continuing the topic, Claire looked at Tessa, who had already decided to go to the church, and asked:
"How do you plan to get to Saint Samuel's Church? Didn't the Witch Cult members lurking in Backlund conduct any investigation or surveillance on you?"

Speaking of departure, Tessa stood up and took out some clothes from the side. She said, "People who have the authority to inquire about my whereabouts are all very busy. During this period of time, I am still in a relatively free situation."

Claire was surprised and asked, "Is the Witch Cult so lax in its control over newcomers?"

Tessa changed her clothes and said, "My mission is efficient... Of course, it's mainly because I can't truly reach their core unless I reach Sequence 4. Just like your Church of Evernight, Alicia isn't Sequence 4 after all. Asking me to replace her, at worst, the damage won't reach the core of the church."

After putting on her clothes, Tessa produced the magical item that could travel through the spirit world and handed it to Claire. "This 'Traveler's Leg' allows one to travel to very familiar places. If you use it, it can take us directly to St. Samuel's Church."

Claire had once coveted Tessa's magical item that could travel through the spiritual world. Now, holding it in her hand, she used her ability to directly identify this giant key-shaped object.

Claire's spiritual sense "saw" the transparent, almost unreal crystal fragments mixed in with the leg-shaped key.

This is the extraordinary characteristic of the "Apprentice" pathway, probably with the strength of Sequence 6 or Sequence 5. Due to the lack of understanding of this pathway, further confirmation is impossible.

But Claire could see that this item was also made by a Beyonder from the "Universal" path. Its effect was to allow one to travel to familiar places through the spirit world, but the price was something Claire couldn't see for a moment.

Tessa noticed Claire was identifying the item and explained, "'Traveler' is Sequence 5 of the Apprentice Path. You don't have to worry about the cost. I've used some tricks to graft the negative effects of using this item onto other aspects, so you can use it without worry."

"Let's go now?" Claire asked, holding the traveler's prosthetic leg.

Tessa smiled and said, "Of course, time is running out. The sooner the better. We can come back in the evening to help Xio host the Beyonder gathering."

Having experience with the roulette wheel, Claire was quite adept at using it, but she felt that Tessa was sticking a little too close to her.

"Can't you stay away?" Claire raised her eyebrows.

Tessa explained calmly, "To carry two people at the same time, they must be physically in contact."

fraud……

The last time she was taken as Galadriel, Tessa stayed far away, even though she only needed to touch this magical item.

But Claire couldn't use this example to refute it. She tried to ignore Tessa's sneaky behavior and activated the traveler's prosthetic leg in her hand.

"Is this St. Samuel's Church?" Tessa looked around the ordinary room.

"No, it's a safe house outside the church. Teleporting directly to the church will trigger an alarm." Claire turned the mechanism on the bookshelf in the room, revealing a staircase leading underground behind the wall. Claire took the lead and said, "This is the underground passage leading to the church."

Because she was with Tessa, a non-church member, Claire couldn't go to the more central areas. She turned into the church through the underground tunnel and took a detour to bring Tessa to the office of their seventh team.

Daly is resting here.

The holy coffin is also placed here.

"Where's Galadilla?" Tessa asked.

Claire answered preparedly, "Still in the sanctuary."

Tessa said "Oh" and saw Alicia lying in the opened coffin. Under the action of the bronze zipper, Alicia's body seemed to be alive, as if she was sleeping.

In Claire's mind, the holy coffin directly enveloped her and Tessa, and the hidden authority directly eliminated any possibility of prying eyes.

Tessa took off her coat, revealing the familiar black tights, and she slipped into Alicia's body like putting on clothes.

Claire carefully observed the process of Tessa "putting on" Alicia. In her vision, it was not so much putting on as it was more like Tessa's body was being reshaped using Alicia as a mold, even replacing Alicia's existence!

In this case, even divination and curses aimed at Alicia will be applied to Tessa.

No wonder no one could see through the disguise.

After the Holy Coffin's effect was removed, Claire and Tessa reappeared in the room. Claire, feeling that the Holy Coffin was much more convenient than before in Tingen, said to Tessa beside her:
"From today on, you are Alicia."

Claire had never expected that among the people around her, it would be the witch Tessa who would be the first to become a high-ranking deacon of the church.

However, although Alicia was a high-ranking deacon with high authority in the secular world, able to participate in cardinal meetings and vote on many matters of the Holy See, she was not a demigod and was not authorized to access the Vatican's internal archives concerning demigods.

"Would you like to visit my office?" Tessa responded with a gentle smile.

It's very much like how Alicia looks when she's facing outside.

Tessa is truly a master of disguise, as she can accurately grasp the original owner's temperament and habits with just a few memories from the body.

Claire, dressed in a cloak, followed Alicia to the office area of ​​the Nighthawks' chief executive.

In the outer room of Alicia's office, a woman was busy at her desk. The moment she saw Tessa, she stood up with a smile on her face.

It was Alicia's assistant, Messeri Doherty. Messeri lowered his head slightly before Tessa, his smile gentle, without a trace of the domineering and cold demeanor Claire had previously witnessed.

Messeri handed Tessa a file he had sorted out nearby and said, "Ms. Alicia, this is the latest update on the case of Mrs. Sorge that was submitted last night. I've sorted it out for you. Currently, the case is being tracked by Daly Simone of Red Gloves Squad 7."

Messeri glanced doubtfully at the masked figure in a black robe following Tessa. Seeing Tessa take the file and show no intention of stopping her, he continued, "But during the trial at the Cherwood District Police Station, Daly Simone and a witness named Christina suddenly disappeared from the interrogation room. That morning, Daly Simone returned to the church, but Christina was nowhere to be seen."

After saying this, Messeri shut up and stood quietly beside Tessa, waiting for her to look over the file in her hand.

Tessa flipped through the pages and said, "I already know about this. Christina believed in the evil god and performed cruel and bloody cult rituals in the mansion many times. She has been dealt with by the Red Gloves."

"Is that so?" Meseri suddenly realized and quickly said, "My intelligence is lagging behind... According to regulations, cases like this that don't involve mid- or high-sequence Beyonders are to be handled by us Nighthawks. Your Excellency Alicia, do you need me to go over there to coordinate and retrieve the detailed intelligence on this case and the authority to handle the subsequent cases?"

Alicia once asked Meseri to pay attention to the case related to the "Devil's Painting", but now this related case has fallen into the hands of the Red Gloves. Meseri believes that he has lost the initiative, so he naturally has to be more active in performing and making amends.

"Okay." Tessa responded according to Alicia's temperament. Even if Messeri took the case from Daly, it would eventually fall into her hands.

After receiving the response, Messeri said, "If you have no other instructions, I will do it right away."

Tessa nodded and said, "Go ahead."

From beginning to end, Messeri didn't dare ask Tessa about the identity of the black-robed man following him.

"What a humble attitude..." Claire sighed after Meseri left.

From Alicia's fragmentary memories, Tessa had a certain understanding of Messeri, so she said:

"This woman has been influenced by Alicia's abilities for a long time, and her psychology has become distorted...but this woman's nature is also problematic."

"Why, did she offend you?"

Claire explained, "Messeri is also a 'Necromancer.' She considers herself a competitor to Sister Daly, and has deliberately caused trouble for the rest of Team 7. Also, Alicia has been actively trying to help Meseri compete with Sister Daly lately."

"I see..." Tessa nodded: "I didn't get this part of the memory."

After Messerli Doughty left, the office of the Nighthawks' chief was no longer occupied by outsiders. Claire and Tessa searched carefully and found two low-sequence magical items.

One is a brooch that slightly enhances spirituality.

The other is a fountain pen that incorporates the extraordinary properties of the "Broken Winged Angel," which can curse others by writing sentences on paper.

"Is this a magical item made with the Beyonder characteristic of the 'Broken Winged Angel'?" Tessa confirmed with Claire, playing with the round-bellied fountain pen in her hand.

"I can confirm it." Claire confirmed.

The "Life Painting" that combines the extraordinary characteristics of the "Demon" and the Cursed Pen that combines the extraordinary characteristics of the "Broken Winged Angel" are connected, although it is not 100% certain that Alicia had commissioned others to make a series of magical items.

But the accuracy of this guess has greatly increased.

Tessa also murmured, "The Beyonder characteristics that were released, the mysteriously dissipated spirit, could it really be resurrected?"

Claire also felt a sense of urgency and emphasized, "Looks like we need to find the remaining magical items faster. Even if there really is a hidden resurrection trick, without these Beyonder characteristics, the impact will definitely be huge."

Tessa also said, "In addition, we must continue to confirm that no one else has come into contact with the 'Life Oil Painting', and we must also properly seal the 'Life Oil Painting'."

Talking about the sealing work, Claire said, "It's safest to directly hand over the 'Life Painting' to the church and seal it behind the Chanis Gate."

Neither the basement of the Oak Leaf Bar nor Claire's holy coffin were suitable places for long-term sealing. Although there was a risk of enemy invasion behind the Chanis Gate, it was a relatively professional and comprehensive sealing location.

Tessa thought for a moment and then said:
"We can seal these items separately. The most dangerous ones can be sealed behind the Chanis Gate. Low-sequence items like the Cursed Pen can be kept by you, me, or other trustworthy and capable individuals."

"I'm quite knowledgeable about curses, so leave this cursed pen to me."

Claire nodded, agreeing with Tessa's idea.

Next, the two went to Alicia's single-family home on Pestfield Street, where they found another magical item that combined the extraordinary characteristics of the "criminal".

A cufflink that can slightly detect the ill intentions of others has the negative effect of easily breeding criminal impulses if worn for a long time.

Claire planned to place the cufflink in the holy coffin, which had storage capabilities.

"It's just that I lack the means to carry and store the holy coffin..." Claire felt a headache.

The Holy Coffin is a holy object held by Alicia, and she cannot carry it openly.

Claire thought of Alicia's method of accommodation, which was to drive a spirit with the ability to accommodate.

With the help of the nightmare doll's power, if combined with the bone box issued by the Holy Court, she can control another spirit.

But she didn't have an empty bone box, and she had no idea where to find a spirit with such special abilities in the short term.

Perhaps a trip back to the sanctuary could resolve this issue?
There must be another bone box in the temple, and Archbishop Cecilis might be able to help find this special spirit.

There's a chance that the "Roulette of Unknown Destination" will send me back to the Sanctuary... but it's a bit dangerous.

After thinking for a moment, Claire turned her gaze to Tessa in front of her. "Tessa, what are the negative effects of your 'Traveler's Leg'? Can I borrow it to travel back and forth between Backlund and the Tranquil Church in Wintershire?"

(End of this chapter)