Wizard Earl

Chapter 197 The Invisible Hand

"You mean to say that the actions of these people who are good at dealing with vengeful spirits weren't recorded this time? Could it be because of access restrictions, and you don't have the authority to review their action records, Margaret?" After listening to Margaret's statement, Connor thought for a moment and offered a hypothesis.

"I have Lady Elena's help and possess the highest known authority within the Church of Rune. What you say is possible, but the probability is low!" After carefully considering Connor's hypothesis, Margaret ultimately shook her head in denial:

"Are you very interested in this?" Connor asked Margaret slowly. He didn't know why Margaret cared so much about this. For the church, the appearance of vengeful spirits should just be a routine event. Even if the losses were a bit big, Margaret shouldn't be so careless.

Hearing Connor's question, Margaret hesitated for a moment, but ultimately shook her head and said nothing more.

Connor didn't mind Margaret's hesitation. Seeing that Margaret didn't want to say anything more, he handed her a list.

"What do you need so many earth-attribute enchanted materials for?" Margaret took the list from Connor, glanced at it for a moment, and asked with a frown and some doubt:

"Margaret, I need you to craft a simple alchemical tool for detecting minerals. Please provide me with the items on the list within a week, if possible." Connor wasn't surprised by Margaret's question. He looked into her eyes and earnestly instructed her:

"Magic stone ore?" Margaret was also a very intelligent person. She immediately thought of what Connor had hinted at before, and asked in a low voice with some anticipation:

"Well, I may have discovered a magic stone mine that hasn't been found by the Church and the Empire yet. I want to go to Tunguska to find it, and I need your help!" Now that he had decided to join forces with Margaret, Connor no longer hid anything from her. However, as usual, he kept a secret from Margaret and didn't tell her where he was going.

"I want a share!" Although Connor had hinted at it before, Margaret's eyes still shone with excitement when Connor confirmed it directly. Finding an undiscovered magic stone mine would, conservatively speaking, provide all the resources needed for an apprentice's cultivation. Knowing Connor as she did, she understood that given his cautious nature, there was a high probability that he would tell her.

"Since I told you, it's natural that I intend to cooperate with you. If everything goes smoothly, you'll definitely get a share. Now, get what I need first. I only know the approximate location of this magic stone mine; I need to conduct an on-site investigation to find the exact location!" Connor made his words very clear, reassuring Margaret to help him.

Holding up the list in her hand, Margaret confidently declared, "I can find it all in three days, not even a week!"

"Great! Once you get your hands on it, put it in the usual spot!" Connor smiled, always satisfied with Margaret's efficiency.

Five minutes later, Connor, having ended his secret meeting with Margaret, smelled the faint fragrance left behind by the departing Margaret in the apartment. His eyes flickered, and he then downed the glass of red wine in one gulp.

Connor retrieved a map from his spatial ring. The map was extremely detailed, and judging from the markings, it clearly depicted Rune and its surrounding area.

With the map out, Connor immediately focused his attention on the location of the North District of Rune. He found a pencil somewhere and began to draw on the map as he thought.

After a moment, Connor finished his thinking and looked at the dozen or so circles he had drawn on the map, his eyes filled with seriousness.

Although Connor pretended not to care about what Margaret told him about vengeful spirits, he actually took it to heart. Of course, this wasn't because of Margaret, but because…

"Looking at the map, there are a whopping eleven locations that match the coordinates of the village in the northern countryside that Margaret gave us!" Connor said, looking at the circle he had drawn on his map, somewhat exasperated.

Connor shook his head and focused on the map again. He felt he could find the answer there. Connor's efforts soon paid off; his gaze was completely drawn to a coordinate on the map called "Ruyce Steel Works."

If Connor remembers correctly, the Ruiz Steel Plant is controlled by the Valencia Chamber of Commerce, which owns 88% of the shares.

The reason why the Ruiz Steel Plant attracted Connor's attention was not only because it was a factory controlled by the Valencia Chamber of Commerce. After all, Valencia owns dozens of factories in Loen, including seven steel plants. What really caught Connor's attention was that it was very close to the eleven villages in the northern suburbs of Loen that Connor had marked on his map. The furthest village was only a half-hour walk away.

Even if a steel factory isn't very large, given the current level of productivity in this world, it would still need at least a hundred employees. Of those hundred employees, at least half would be doing jobs that don't require much technical skill. According to factory recruitment practices, these jobs would likely be filled by local workers, and some of the villagers from the rural towns and villages in the northern district circled by Connor are very likely to be residents of this Ruiz Steel Factory.

Connor solemnly took out the small box from his spatial ring and carefully examined the red dust inside. His mind raced. He knew very well that Margaret would never take a normal vengeful spirit incident this seriously, so there was definitely something wrong with this!

The reason Connor cares so much about this vengeful spirit incident is because of this red dust, this red dust extracted in the secret society's safe house. Connor will not forget the strong vengeful spirit aura that this red dust originally had.

The Valencia Chamber of Commerce is connected to the Secret Society, a fact that has been confirmed multiple times. The Secret Society's safe house has stored red dust related to vengeful spirits, and vengeful spirits have appeared in the rural villages and towns in the northern district, which are very close to the Ruiz Steel Factory. Although Connor does not know the truth about all of this, he always feels that there is an unseen hand controlling all of this!

(End of this chapter)