Miss Witch's Forbidden Book Secret

This is Jeremiah, who has completed his fourteenth transformation into a moth; traces of the past can still be faintly seen.

— Jeremiah is now 572 years old.

This is thanks to the "Book of Moths" that He possesses, a secret text concerning change, rebirth, forgetting, and metamorphosis. It is an alchemical work, but due to its special nature, it is also related to the unsheathed blade.

Change itself is the domain of alchemy, and the strongly correlated sequence is the Displacement Scholar, but when it becomes extreme, it involves chaos and disorder, and is related to the Assassin of the Unsheathed Blade; at the same time, forgetting also involves deception and concealment, and the sequence related to it is the Black Prince of the Unsheathed Blade.

Jeremiah pushed the teacup in front of the Ulrich statue and said slowly, "The assassin, and the Black Prince."

"The assassins are now in place. When will the Black Prince arrive? Miss Cameron, what are your thoughts?"

His voice echoed through the banquet hall, and in the blink of an eye, the silk curtains that had fallen onto one side of the window transformed into a beautiful young woman with a long flaxen ponytail.

Cameron was nowhere near as composed as he had been at the Peacock Tail Theatre. He had a large hole in his chest, through which his nearly stopped heart was visible to the naked eye. He was covered in dust and bruises all over his body.

"Opinion? President Jeremiah! What opinion can I possibly have right now? I'm dying, I'm fucking dying!"

"That Furnessa Bonaparte in the Grand Theatre is not just a Sequence 7, she's a puppet! Damn it, the Alchemy Society lied to me! If you hadn't lied to me, how could I have ended up like this?"

Jeremiah poured Cameron a cup of tea and said gently, “Miss Cameron, this is entirely your own fault. I don’t recall ever asking you to assassinate anyone other than Mr. Codd. I even warned you not to cause any unnecessary trouble.”

"I......"

Cameron was speechless.

“Look, you’ve made a mistake again, Cameron. You always say that the eldest daughter of the Montreal family is too arrogant, but aren’t you just as arrogant? If you weren’t so arrogant, Cord would have died from alchemical poison long ago, but you underestimated this young Sequence 9 Cord and couldn’t even poison him.”

"But!"

“Shut up, Cameron, and keep listening to me. Besides, you’ve caused a lot of trouble. I think the Assassin’s Court really needs to improve its professional training, otherwise the Celestials will lose in this competition sooner or later.”

Jeremiah picked up his teacup and smiled, even with a hint of schadenfreude. "Finally, I must inform you that because your work is incomplete, I will not be settling your final payment."

"President! It was so close, so very close! If I could have kidnapped that young lady from the Montreal family, no, even if I had just run away back then, I would have had a chance to sneak into the hospital and kill Codd!"

Cameron's eyes were full of resentment, and his voice grew increasingly gritted as he ran his hand over the hole in his chest.

"But it's all that Furnessa Bonaparte's fault! What's wrong with her? If it weren't for her, my plan would have been flawless. And that Cord, she's the one who saved Cord's life!"

"President, please give me another chance. I promise I will complete the mission!"

She stared intently into Jeremiah's eyes, her tone pleading. The bounty was secondary; more importantly, her injuries were severe, and she desperately needed a superhuman skilled in healing rituals to pull her back from the brink of death.

There are almost no extraordinary individuals from the soil oak in the Iris Kingdom. The Holy Grail does exist, but it belongs to the priests of the Ansu Holy Church and the knights of Saint Engard. Going there would be tantamount to walking into a trap!

In this situation, Jeremiah, with his extensive knowledge, was her only lifeline.

Jeremiah smiled and said, “No, Miss Cameron. Although your work has been a failure, I have almost achieved my goal. I don’t need you to continue working for me.”

"I need your treatment—please, I'll do anything to heal my injuries!"

"Oh? If I heal you, what will you do? Answer me honestly, and maybe I'll consider helping you."

Jeremiah’s voice was soft and neutral, and his smile remained unchanged.

Cameron thought for a moment, but the image of Fernina Bonaparte with her white-streaked hair and elegant dress just wouldn't leave him. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "I will get my revenge, I must get my revenge!"

"My dagger pierced her puppet—though it was a puppet, I could still find her soul. I will drag her into my web, slowly devouring her body, making her suffer endless torment, wishing she were dead!"

"That's it?"

Jeremiah was somewhat disappointed.

Cameron was, in a sense, His student. The core ritual she learned, "The Face of Change," was a simplified version of the moth transformation ritual performed by Jeremiah. Faisal Sheikh, the former master assassin of the Assassin's Court, sought instruction from him on this ritual and asked him to pass on the Face of Change to seventeen assassins who had some talent in this area.

Cameron was one of them.

So this is what talent is? Completely blinded by supernatural power—that junior classmate he'd never met before was no pushover; Cameron should have realized that during their brief exchange, yet she still recklessly charged forward to seek her own death.

But Jeremiah quickly put on a smile again. "Alright, Miss Cameron. Although your idea is stupid, wicked, and childish, considering our meager teacher-student relationship, I will help you repair your physical body."

He tossed a vial of potion to Cameron, reminding him, "This is an alchemical concoction I recently crafted. Its restorative effect is slightly weaker than a single Sequence 4 rapid heal. It's enough to make your heart grow back."

Cameron quickly drank the medicine.

These medicines, like jelly or slime, slid down the throat and covered the wound with a transparent membrane. The missing heart was rapidly repaired behind the membrane, and the injury was completely healed in just a few minutes.

Before Cameron could even express his gratitude, Jeremiah reminded him:

“If I were you, I would try to perform a few rituals specifically targeting the Holy Grail. Frinna Bonaparte is from Anzu, and even if she is a puppet, she is definitely from Anzu behind her, and she is very likely protected by the Holy Church.”

"Teacher! Thank you for the medicine, thank you for the reminder!" Cameron suddenly realized what was happening.

That's right! And this Furnessa Bonaparte seems to be a friend of Princess Ansu, so she must have many knights and priests protecting her.

But this is not difficult to solve. Priests are good at dispelling evil spirits and curses, but not good at dealing with toxins.

She is extremely skilled in poisons and knows all kinds of alchemical poisons!

Cameron feigned humility and eagerness to learn, asking, "Teacher Jeremiah, do you have any further advice?"

"suggestion?"

Jeremiah chuckled softly and said:

"In any case, your injuries are still too severe. Even if I can repair your physical body, your soul is still damaged due to its spiritualization and has not yet fully recovered. I suggest that you repair your soul, which was damaged due to spiritualization, first to ensure the integrity of your spirituality."

"Furthermore, your target will definitely be more vigilant after the last attack, and you can't linger with her for too long. If it goes on too long, the priests and knights of the Holy Church will inevitably notice the situation. So you must quickly drag her soul into your web. Don't be stingy with your weapons and supernatural items, bring them all, and finish this quickly."

"Ah! You're right!"

Cameron also realized he had been too hasty—his spirituality wasn't even complete! This problem might not seem like much normally, but it would cause serious trouble if things really escalated!

She bowed her head sincerely to express her humility.

As expected of the president! She's truly thoughtful!

Chapter 232 Cameron's Revenge

That night, after Annie fell asleep, Tia didn't project her soul into the iris. Instead, she closed her eyes on the bed, raised the shrine, and went deep into the ocean with Eleanor.

Eleanor had just descended into the deep sea when she stumbled upon a familiar nightmare: the same familiar dense forest, the same familiar path, and she also pulled Tia in with her.

It's exactly the same place where Tia tried to build a bond with Eleanor.

Eleanor explored around for a while and saw a tightly closed silver door at the end of the forest path, but after touching it for a while, she didn't get any reaction except for the mystical illusions caused by the spirit.

Tia quickly stopped the curious child, saying, "Let's stop here for now, don't take any risks. Eleanor, you can ask Ms. Bernice tomorrow."

Eleanor nodded emphatically, but still exclaimed excitedly, "It has a keyhole!"

"It's no use. Even if you have the key, we'll have to ask Ms. Bernice tomorrow before we talk about it. Otherwise, I'll spank you."

"Oh."

Eleanor nodded as if she understood, and asked, "What is spanking?"

“It’s just… infuriating.” Tia sensed that Eleanor was asking a question she already knew the answer to.

"Has Annie ever been spanked?"

"No......"

Can I still get a spanking tomorrow?

Tia glanced at the innocent-looking little princess and couldn't help but say, "Eleanor, you're thinking about dangerous things."

Eleanor suddenly looked at the silver door and exclaimed in amazement, "The keyhole is so small!"

“Eleanor...you seem to be a little too smart.”

The black-haired girl took a deep breath.

She stared at Eleanor's face for a moment, then turned away, not wanting to continue the conversation.

There is a small keyhole on the silver door, about the size of a little finger, right in the center of the door.

Having a keyhole is useless!

I even had a occult vision before where Tia was said to be the Little Key!

How do you say this?

She put her fingers in and twisted and moved them around.

That's so weird.

The two of them spent the whole night trying to figure it out, so they decided to end the nightmare and surface.

After Tia returned to the material world, she was still in her bedroom at 16 Crown Street.

Anne had already gone back. After all, she still had her aristocratic manners. She was too embarrassed to be like Vera, who treated Tia like a guest and slept in Tia's bed as if it were her own.

Moreover, the bed isn't particularly big. It's spacious enough for one person, but two people would have to be careful not to fall off the sheets. Three people would have to squeeze together, and four people would have to adjust their position.

Annie felt it wasn't right to occupy Tia's bed, and besides, she was so tickled by Tia that she ran back to her bedroom that very night.

The next morning, when Tia was washing up, she saw Vera with dark circles under her eyes and asked in surprise, "Hakira, didn't you sleep last night?"

"Huh? Who?"

Vera held the toothbrush, looking completely bewildered.

Tia pointed to the mirror and said, "I'm talking to you. Your dark circles are a bit heavy."

"Oh, I stayed up late studying last night. Hmm, it's kind of weird. I had hallucinations last night."

"You've had a flash of inspiration, haven't you?"

"Well, yes, it is a bit..."

The preparatory ritual for deep diving is meditation. Meditation is actually related to deep diving, but the depth of descent during meditation is very limited, normally at most a hundred meters. The various random thoughts that emerge during meditation are proof that you have entered deep diving, similar to dreams during sleep.

Vera didn't actively meditate, but when she got into a state of work or study, it was very similar to meditation—the so-called flow state. If one is spiritually sensitive or uses certain medications, one can intuitively perceive the knowledge, information, feelings, and experiences that are embodied by spiritual influences.

Just like the various spiritual illusions that appeared when Tia read the Book of the Hearthfire.

In ancient times, this would probably be what the church called a sacred experience, what shamans called spiritual communication, or of course, it could simply be a hallucination caused by drugs.

Vera said uncertainly, "But logically, if I create a mystical illusion, it shouldn't be interrupted. But it stopped for a while, and then I heard Annie laughing and the sound of fighting."

Tia felt ashamed.

She turned her face away to rinse her mouth, and said in a serious tone, "You must be obsessed with reading."

Vera looked completely bewildered: "I haven't been reading any erotic novels these past two days!"

This kid is basically confessing without being asked.

...............

...............

In the morning, when it was almost time, Tia went to the Apostolic Palace to pay her respects to Pope Peter.

As a result, the crowned bishop stationed at the Apostolic Palace told Tia Peter that he was on a business trip to the north—but fortunately, the pope had anticipated that Tia would come to ask about this and had already left a message in reply.

The good news is that the decree has indeed been sent from the Holy Kingdom; the bad news is that the decree has not yet arrived.

The distance between the Holy Kingdom and the Iris Flower Land is about nine hundred kilometers. Logically, it should be possible to reach the Iris Flower Land in ten days. That was also Tia's calculation.

However, this 900-kilometer stretch is almost entirely comprised of a united kingdom of mountain tribes of dwarves. These dwarves, who are generally less than 1.5 meters tall, are not the mythical, burly, bearded creatures of legend, but rather ancient people cursed to live to a maximum of fifty years old, with their bodies permanently fixed before adulthood, and who are all either young boys or girls.

They were the leaders of the Year of the Forge, who helped King Solomon forge weapons, provide steel, manufacture machinery, aid industry, and even joined King Solomon in invading the holy city of Herod and annexing the Papacy.

This process symbolizes that the Holy Grail of Holy Number 2, guided by the hammer of Holy Number 3, has been forged into the King's Crown of Holy Number 4. However, the ancient papacy clearly would not willingly become lambs to the slaughter when faced with the executioner's blade. Before their deaths, the saints of the church cursed these mountain clans, saying they would never reach adulthood, meaning they would be physically weak, forever unable to lift the hammer, and never be able to take up arms.

Modern dwarves have had their hybridization curse greatly diluted over thousands of years, but their fixed appearance and short lifespan still plague them, making them a common enemy of the Theocracy. Although there are no hot wars, they are never polite to the Theocracy's ships and caravans.

Now things are really messed up. The priest likes little boys, and the dwarf tribes have rebelled against the Heavenly General, causing chaos in the theocracy.

Therefore, the imperial edict did not travel in a straight line, but rather through the outer tundra of the northern Great Ice Plains, then westward through the Empire into the Iris Plains, making a large detour and increasing the distance to over three thousand kilometers...

Fortunately, the imperial edict will arrive sooner or later.

Tia then casually left her physical body at 16 Crown Street, told Annie, and directly projected her soul to the Grand Hotel on the banks of the Iris Broken Gold River.

Eleanor was heading out to Tower Street this morning to prepare for the ritual to cure the curse, and Tia wasn't idle either. She was about to set off to visit Marn at the hospital and have a good talk with him about the debt.

As soon as she stepped outside, the mournful cry of a pigeon echoed in Tia's ears.

Tia was surprised. "How did the pigeon ritual get triggered?"

This extremely convenient little ritual for detecting murderous intent is very useful, but it has a fatal flaw: it can only detect hostility, but not the source of that hostility.

A murderous intent quickly locked onto her.