A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 155 There really is a mastermind behind this.

Rorschach continued flipping through the newspaper, which later published a special report on the underground cult.

At the press conference, Necker actually implied that "the cult may come from an unfriendly northern neighbor."

A reporter familiar with major news across the continent immediately asked: "Last winter, the Imperial Palace and Parliament Building were also attacked in a similar manner, with huge vines and poisonous fog appearing, highly similar to the Sacred Heart Cathedral incident. Does this contradict your accusations?"

"What accusation? Please don't misunderstand me, Mr. Reporter. I mean that the underground cult's first public activities took place within the Empire, so the initial assumption is that it originated in the north, not that it was supported by any side, although the speed of its development is astonishing."

Then the news agency commentator immediately wrote: The Finance Minister implied that the Kingdom of Istani was providing support to the Mother Earth cult, which launched attacks on both countries and created serious panic.

Sigh, foreign powers, sigh, Istani. Rorschach was about to close the newspaper after reading the GG page when he saw the long-lost coded message.

Hmm? I haven't received any news from the organization in a long time. Now I just write about Valuwana every month as usual. A while ago, I only received a letter from Teacher Caroline from Stormwind.

"Tomorrow afternoon, opera box, first performance?" This code left Rorschach completely baffled. Was it just any box? What if he couldn't get a ticket?

Regardless, Rorschach still went to the opera house on his precious afternoon off. To his surprise, even on a weekend, there were still plenty of seats available for the performance at the Royal Opera House!

"Sir, you should buy tickets for tomorrow's new play. Today is the last day of the performance of 'The Three Barrel Merchants.' To be honest, this play is quite boring."

As Rorschach looked at the show schedule at the ticket booth at the entrance, a scalper from this world approached him, pretending to sell candy, water, matches, and other miscellaneous goods, but actually holding a handful of bills.

Seeing that Luo Xia remained unmoved and was preparing to buy tickets directly at the ticket office, the scalper did not give up and gritted his teeth to push the deal: "How about this, I'll give you one of the two tickets for the first performance of the new play tomorrow. It's the third play by the up-and-coming playwright Caron, and tickets are extremely hard to come by!"

Because the current shows are so bad, they'll all be ruined if we don't step in soon, so the scalper came up with the idea of ​​bundling sales.

"I'd like a private box for this show, do you have one?"

"Yes, but it'll cost extra." The ticket scalper was only thinking about splitting the bill, and he made a deal with Rorschach.

Rorschach sat alone in a small box, which was normally reserved for couples. The play was indeed quite boring, telling the different stories of how three wine barrel merchants rose to prominence, with the opening narration mentioning that they were sponsored by a boss from the south of the kingdom.

Custom-made documents are available these days. Rorschach yawned; by the time the first act was almost over, the person he was supposed to meet had still not arrived.

"Would you like a drink?" During the intermission, the door to the private room was knocked on by a waiter.

Hmm? That voice sounds familiar. Rorschach perked up and opened the door without using [Mage's Hand].

Sure enough, despite the disguise and the change in demeanor from the waiter's clothes, Rorschach immediately recognized him as "Mr. Falcon" as soon as he turned around.

He pushed the beverage cart in, and Luo Xia closed the door of the private room again. He looked around and saw that there were very few audience members in the room, and the seats below were not full. No one was paying attention to his side.

"Why can't I find your ticket information? I had to call each box one by one." Now, this dignified imperial agency officer has added another profession to his list of experiences in the capital.

Rorschach took the glass of purple soda, which contained a stack of banknotes at the bottom: "I found a ticket scalper. What's this money for?"

"I'll reimburse you for the ticket." Falcon put down the cart, took out a fine suit from the bottom of the cart and put it on, so that he could be one of the audience members.

At the start of the second act, both Rorschach and Falcon are holding up their theater glasses.

The two sat side by side, seemingly discussing a tired plot. Falcon explained, "The Pacharuca Merchant Guild has ceased operations for restructuring. The boss discovered that the organization within the Holy Kingdom has shockingly chaotic accounting practices."

Luo Xia nodded, and Falcon seemed to realize something: "You didn't report it, did you?"

"I'm reporting the truth, after all, they're going to deduct my salary."

"That's damn. But it also means I'll have to stay here for a while longer. I'm in charge here now. If anything happens, you can contact me directly."

"Where's Brother Xiao? Your partner."

"That's why I'm looking for you. He went to Istani on a mission. Our organization is trying to investigate the mages of the Forest Tower and has discovered that some of them have ties to the cult."

The reason the order has grown so rapidly is not only due to the support of nobles in the south of the empire, but we have also found funding from across the strait.

As he spoke, he placed a bag of documents on the small coffee table, which Luo Xia picked up and put into his spatial ring.

Huh? The conspiracy theorist commentator from the news agency wasn't wrong? In Rorschach's memory, although the Holy Kingdom and the Empire were enemies, it didn't prevent the Kingdom of Istani from engaging in a lot of trade with both countries, and there was never any indication that it had any connection with Istani during its contact with the cult.

No, Rorschach thought of the three-party investigation report he saw while he was in the hospital, which showed that "Rat King" Old Red was a sailor before running the bar, working his way up to first mate, and that his fleet traveled between the Holy Kingdom and the Island Kingdom.

*Hiss.* Whether in this life or the last, does the mainland always have its own island nation causing trouble? "So, what do you want from me?"

Falcon started eating cookies: "The boss asked me to ask you if it's possible to go to Storm City under the guise of the Magic Tower to make contact with the Istani guilds and the Magic Tower. Also, it's written in the documents. The specific pretext is the same as last time when we went to the Black Forest."

"That was a coincidence; it's not something I could just go whenever I wanted. Besides, I'm going back to China soon."

"Attending a wedding? Isn't it in May?" It's only the end of February now, isn't that a bit too rushed?

Luo Xia pondered the matter of building the factory and choosing a location for his magic tower: "I should set off in March or April. I still have some things to take care of."

Falcon didn't press further, but thought for a moment and said, "Alright, there's no rush to go to Istani. The underground cult has suffered heavy losses in both countries, and our organization judges that it needs to quiet down for a while. The specific time and method will be decided by the boss, and I'll let you know."

Falcon didn't say anything more; informing Rorschach of the Order's intelligence on Istani was just one of the many things he came to the Holy Kingdom for.

"Rorschach is now a mid-level mage, so don't expect him to be completely obedient. However, he might still be needed to handle the situation in Istani in the end," Sebins had told Falcon before they set off.

The core members of the cult revealed that the Istani royal family and the cult had a deal involving a ruin on the island and a legendary relic. If true, perhaps only a mage could investigate thoroughly and escape unscathed.

At this time, the organization was severely understaffed, partly due to the investigation of the cult and the reorganization of its internal finances, and partly due to internal strife within the empire. Although both were part of the military, in addition to the special forces defense agency, there was also an intelligence organization led by the chief mage accompanying the army, composed entirely of spellcasters.

The establishment of the special defense agency also implied that the emperor wanted to prevent the spellcaster organizations within the military from becoming too powerful, hoping they would check and balance each other. Currently, however, Sebins and the chief mage are at odds and bickering on various fronts.

Compared to the spellcaster organization led by the chief, the majority of specialists in the Special Defense Agency are military personnel. Although Rorschach is an "outsider" who has not received formal training and has no official code name, his rapid promotion to intermediate mage has made the agency head value him highly.

Rorschach's trip to the Black Forest made the Forest Tower aware of the infiltration and threat posed by Mother Earth, which also made the work of the organization much easier.

As for the chaotic situation within my own empire, I can at least come to the Holy Kingdom to see an opera.

Thinking this, Falcon leaned back in his chair and shifted to a more comfortable position. Although Rorschach found the play boring, this special agent, who had transitioned from the battlefield to the secret front, watched it with great interest.

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(End of this chapter)