It felt so good to be close to the witch!

But right now, her strength is still too weak...

Even though she had been working very hard to cultivate after being promoted to the Grand rank, her progress in the second stage of the Basic Meditation Method was far from satisfactory.

Now, she is the slowest progressing among all the witches.

Her thoughts drifted, and Elena recalled the slips of paper Roy had given each of them a while back, each listing a characteristic of the original sin of the soul. Her original sin characteristic was:

—Sloth (50%), Envy (30%), Lust (20%)

Elena admits that she can be lazy at times, but laziness is something that can't be kept constant. If she becomes completely lazy and doesn't practice basic meditation at all, her progress won't improve, which puzzles Elena.

As for jealousy, Irina didn't know what to do. She envied her sisters' rapid progress in basic meditation, but to call it jealousy wasn't quite... well... it wasn't entirely without a clue either. Shanica's unique and terrifying progress did make her a little jealous, but this jealousy was rather complicated.

One night, she saw her sister Shanica walk into Roy's room alone... Elena was not an ignorant girl; she was a young woman in full bloom. She knew very well what would happen if she walked into a young man's room alone in the middle of the night.

She couldn't describe her emotions at the time, nor could she say anything, because Sister Shanica was the first witch to follow Brother Roy, and her relationship with Brother Roy was the deepest.

Logically, that should be the case.

On an emotional level, however, she couldn't help but feel jealous.

This jealousy, intertwined with lust, kept the little fox girl awake every night.

Because she also wanted to...

Irina shook her head vigorously to clear her mind of wandering thoughts and prepared to get out of bed.

But just then, she sensed something was amiss.

A warm, burning hand grasped one of her large tails?!

The scalding heat rushed straight to her scalp in an instant, turning Irina's face a deep blush.

Her breathing became rapid.

He turned his head and looked at the "culprit" who had caused all of this.

That was Roy, lying on the bed, his eyes slightly open, a look of confusion in them.

His left hand grasped Elena's large, fluffy tail, which was dangling over the edge of the bed! Perhaps because it felt so soft and smooth, his left hand unconsciously squeezed it a few times.

"Lord Roy, you're finally awake!"

Shanica, who had been watching closely, immediately noticed Roy waking up. She walked over excitedly, and at the same time, she also saw Elena's flushed face and Roy's left hand holding the fox's big tail.

Upon hearing the familiar "call," Roy paused, his left hand loosened slightly, and his gaze gradually focused.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the fox's large tail, which had been grabbed, instinctively lashed out. The tail's owner, the little fox girl, her face flushed, darted behind Shanika, peeking out with her rosy cheeks. She met Roy's now-awake eyes with her bright, watery gaze and whispered shyly:

"You can't just touch a fox's tail!"

"?" Roy blinked in confusion as he regained consciousness. Soon, the lingering smoothness in his left hand made him realize what had just happened.

"sorry, I……"

Before he could even speak, Elena whispered, "This... this kind of thing doesn't need an apology, you idiot Roy..."

"..." Roy's words caught in his throat. Looking at the little fox girl who was avoiding his gaze, he smiled after several seconds:

"I'm sorry to have made you worry."

"I'm so glad you're alright." Shanika clasped her hands together and placed them on her lower abdomen, her voice as gentle as spring rain, soothing and comforting.

"Idiot, since you're awake, this fox spirit will generously forgive you this time." Elena stood with her hands behind her back, tilting her head to look at her feet, making her expression unreadable. "Next time, you can't grab my tail without my permission, okay? No, no, no next time, hmph~"

Looking at Shanika and Irina in front of him, Roy smiled brightly: "Yes, yes, yes..."

……

In the small courtyard.

After taking a bath and changing into clean clothes, Roy arrived at the small courtyard where the border duke lived.

As soon as he entered, he met the gentle, smiling eyes of the border duke.

"Awake? Looks like you're recovering well."

“Thanks to Shanika’s help.” Roy shook his head, sat down opposite the Border Duke, and saw the teacup the Border Duke had prepared and handed him. Without being polite, he picked it up and drank it all in one gulp. After letting out a sigh of relief, he said, “This operation was a close call.”

"The strength of Rielko, one of the Four Seats of Divine Punishment, is far greater than I imagined."

Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission.

"..." Looking at the young man in front of him and hearing these words, even a calm and composed border duke couldn't help but be speechless.

Listen to what you're saying.

To avoid exposing himself, the Border Duke did not participate in this operation, but he already knew the outcome of the battle from Latie's words.

Bradley, the legendary pinnacle of divine punishment, sits on the sixth seat.

Knorrs, a veteran and legendary figure, holds one of the five seats of divine punishment.

And most importantly, there's Rielko, one of the Four Divine Punishments, who once had a brief encounter with him in the royal capital of Saint Fuye.

All three temple knights fell at the hands of the young man before them.

If this news gets out, it will probably cause a major earthquake throughout the entire Radiant Empire.

The Knights of Divine Punishment are all renowned figures, holding significant positions in the extraordinary world, let alone the three who occupy the middle three seats.

“You…” The border duke shook his head: “Although the outcome was good, it was very inappropriate to have yourself injured like this.”

"There's nothing we can do about this situation," Roy sighed.

Why would he be willing to take the risk, even with the temptation of the Blood Soul Essence?

However, given the current situation, there are many things that must be done.

"Your Grace, the temple's probing operation has failed, and three Divine Punishment Knights have died. What do you think they will do next?" Roy asked in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this question, the Border Duke did not answer, but instead brought up another matter: "Roy, do you know what happened in the Empire while you were unconscious for the past two days?"

Roy's eyes narrowed: "Please speak."

“Except for the province of Rafa, all the temples in all provinces of the Radiant Empire will forcibly recall the witches who were assigned to serve the local lords.”

"Without any reason, if the lord does not agree, we will take immediate action."

"Forcibly recalling service witches?" Roy frowned. "What is the temple trying to do? By forcibly recalling service witches, aren't they afraid of provoking a backlash from the local noble forces?"

The border duke glanced at Roy, then sighed:

"Not every nobleman cares about witches."

"Of course, the temple's actions drew considerable complaints from the council of nobles."

"But it's just complaints."

"In the end, the service witches are assigned by the temple. Now that they are being recalled, even though there was no prior notice, almost no nobles would have a direct conflict with the temple over this matter."

Roy frowned and remained silent.

Indeed, he was being somewhat presumptuous.

From his perspective, if the temple dared to ask him for the witch, he would dare to throw the temple's people out on the spot.

However, looking at the entire Radiant Empire, apart from a very few nobles like the Border Dukes who have a deep relationship with witches, the vast majority of nobles harbor malice towards witches.

The temple's centuries-long propaganda has already planted a deep-rooted impression in people's minds.

A witch is the daughter of a demon, a source of calamity and misfortune.

Such beings deserve to die.

"What is the temple trying to do by doing this?" Roy asked, puzzled.

The border duke slowly said, "Two days ago, shortly after you killed three Divine Punishment Knights, the long-sealed Privy Cathedral reopened."

"The Duke's intelligence network's spies in the capital reported that they saw a procession escorting witches enter the Privy Cathedral, but when the procession left, the witches were nowhere to be seen."

"There is more than one such team."

"In other words, these recalled service witches, as well as the witches who were newly awakened and captured by divine punishment this winter, will most likely be sent to the Privy Cathedral in the royal capital, St. Fuye."

"As for the specific purpose, it is still unknown."

The border duke's voice was heavy with seriousness.

Something unusual must be going on, and the temple's actions were certainly not without reason.

However, we currently have too little information to guess the temple's specific purpose.

"By the way, Your Grace, has the temple in the neighboring province finished summoning the service witches?" Roy suddenly asked.

“No, not at all.” The border duke shook his head: “These provinces, which are adjacent to the border, are more lenient in their attitude towards the service witches. After spending a long time together, they have developed some affection for the service witches and naturally do not want to be sent back by the temple at will.”

"However, given the temple's firm stance, it should be completed within one or two days at most."

"You're asking this because you want to?"

“That’s right.” Roy nodded, a sharp glint in his eyes: “Since the temple doesn’t dare to come into the province of Lafa, then we’ll take the initiative!”

-

(Guguzi worked very hard to write 10,000 words, so asking for monthly votes at the beginning of the month isn't too much to ask, right?)

Chapter 192 Forbidden Training

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"We can infiltrate the convoy escorting the witch from the temple, sneak into the Privy Cathedral, and see what they're up to!"

Inside the courtyard, Roy looked at the border duke who was deep in thought and said this.

“That is one way…” The border duke tapped his fingers lightly on the stone table. “However, this operation is very risky.”

"We have no idea what the interior of the Privy Cathedral looks like now, and what if we get trapped inside and can't get out..."

“That’s true.” Roy nodded, of course he knew that: “But the ones who infiltrate don’t necessarily have to be ourselves.”

"What do you mean?" The border duke raised an eyebrow.

Roy gave a mysterious smile.

……