Witch Training Manual: My Water Magic Is Wrong

After dealing with the trivial matters of the Marquis's mansion.

The carriage traversed the streets of the capital through the morning mist, heading towards the secluded old street where the Black Order was located.

Inside the carriage, Emily sat opposite Wayne, holding a simple breakfast in her hands, but her mind was clearly not on the food.

"Sir, I have been observing the situation of those three witch sisters for several days now."

Wayne turned his head to look at her: "How is it?"

"The results are much better than expected." Emily's tone carried a clear hint of satisfaction. "They've been taking the potions you concocted every day, and with the purification of residual water magic, the cursed petals are fading much faster than anticipated. I checked this morning, and the marks on all three of them have already faded from deep purple to light pink. At this rate, in another two days, even if they stand in front of the anti-magic stone, no witch characteristics will be detectable."

Wayne nodded. This progress was within his expectations, but hearing the confirmation with his own ears still reassured him a bit.

"And what about you?"

Emily was visibly taken aback: "...Me?"

Emily's ears turned slightly red, but she quickly composed herself and replied in a deliberately relaxed tone, "I'm completely fine now. Sir, have you forgotten? The night you arrived in the capital, you gave me a deep purification. Since then, my curse mark has never recurred."

After she finished speaking, she paused for a moment, then said something only the two of them could understand: "Moreover, every time after that... you helped me consolidate the effects, I carefully felt it. It was indeed more stable each time. So, sir, you don't need to worry about me."

At the same time, Wayne reached out and pressed down on Emily's restless wrist, gently shaking his head to indicate that they were in the carriage.

Emily smiled, narrowing her eyes, but didn't continue.

The carriage came to a stop in front of the Black Order.

The two pushed open the slightly dilapidated wooden door one after the other.

Anka had already arrived in the lobby.

Hearing the door open, she turned around and saw Wayne and Emily. Her eyes brightened slightly. "My lord, you've arrived. The morning fog is a bit heavy, so I've brewed a pot of hot tea. Please have a cup to warm yourself up, Miss Emily." She paused, then added, "Also, I've brought Annesser along."

As soon as she finished speaking, a figure emerged from behind the bookshelf.

Annesser was wearing a clean white shirt, tucked into dark trousers, and looked much more energetic than when they met yesterday. Her gaze fell on Wayne, and she smiled warmly. "Good morning, sir. I'm bothering you again."

Anka walked up to Wayne and stopped, her tone serious: "My lord, I thought about it all night and made a decision. I want Annesser to join the Black Order as well."

Wayne didn't answer immediately, but waited quietly for her to continue.

"She's a witch, it's too dangerous for her to stay out here. What happened yesterday made me realize something—I can't protect her on my own. The Vatican will find out about her sooner or later. St. George's spies are everywhere in the capital. She can hide for a while, but not forever. Only by keeping her by your side and making her a member of the Black Order can I truly feel at ease."

Wayne looked at Annesser.

"What are your own thoughts?"

Annesser looked up to meet his gaze: "Wherever you go, I will go. If you believe the Black Order can protect me, then I'm willing to stay."

Wayne didn't hesitate for long and nodded: "Okay. From today onwards, you're a prospective member of the Black Order. You'll receive the same treatment as your sister."

Emily stood beside Wayne, her gaze lingering on Annesser for a moment before she took a step forward and extended her hand.

"Hello, my name is Emily, and I'm Mr. Wayne's assistant. You're Annesser, right? Miss Anka's sister. Welcome to the Black Order."

Annesser looked at the outstretched hand, paused for a moment, then quickly shook it: "Hello! I'm Annesser! Nice to meet you!"

To Anissa's surprise, Emily then took the initiative to demonstrate her ability: shadow manipulation.

She stretched out her hand, and a wisp of black shadow spilled from her fingertips, coiled around them a few times like a living thing, and then withdrew.

"I can manipulate shadows, move between them, and use them for both attack and defense. After reaching the fourth tier, my range has expanded considerably, and I can now teleport to a fixed point within most of the capital city."

After she finished speaking, she looked at Annesser.

"And you? What exactly are your abilities?"

Anise hesitated for a moment, then spoke frankly: "Desire control. Currently, what can be done is to guide and amplify the target's inner desires and impulses. If used on someone with weak willpower, it can make them completely lose their rationality in a short period of time, falling into a state of being dominated by desire."

She paused, then added seriously, "However, I can only control a very small number of people right now. At most, I can only affect two or three people at a time, and the effect doesn't last long."

Emily's eyes lit up after hearing this, and she took a half-step forward: "Then can desire control precisely influence a specific emotion or tendency? For example, can it guide aggression into something else?"

Anise blinked. "Theoretically, it's possible. However, my control over my abilities isn't refined enough yet, and I can't perform such precise transformation and guidance. My sister said that these things require practice."

Wayne watched the two witches exchanging their abilities, but didn't interrupt them. He waited until they finished a segment of their conversation before speaking, "You have plenty of time to get to know each other. There's no rush."

He turned to Anka and got to the main topic of the day: "How's the public opinion guidance going?"

Anka immediately wiped the smile off his face and reported seriously, "The news has been spread. I found several storytellers who frequent various taverns and a few reputable information brokers in the city, and through 'anonymous leaks,' we've gradually released information about suspicious points that have arisen in the Holy Knights' recent arrest operations. Currently, the information is mainly concentrated in several large tavern areas in the south and east of the city, and the effect is better than expected. Some people are already privately discussing whether the Holy Knights are using this as an excuse to arrest people."

She paused, a slightly embarrassed look appearing on her face, and lowered her voice: "However... sir, if we want this news to spread further throughout the city, relying solely on those few storytellers and information brokers isn't enough. If we want to increase the buzz even further in a short time, we'll probably need to invest more funds to recruit more people. With more funding, the effect would be even better."

After listening, Wayne paused slightly.

He had indeed overlooked the fact that the Black Order was now an empty shell, with not a single gold coin left in its accounts. Anka had only managed to hold on until now thanks to her own savings and her dedication to this matter.

"This was something I didn't consider carefully."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card.

"There are five hundred gold coins in here. You can take the bag and use it first. Let me know if you need more."

Anka was an old member of the Black Order and knew all too well what this money meant to the Black Order at that time. She gripped the money pouch tightly and nodded vigorously: "Rest assured, sir, I will make sure every gold coin is spent wisely."