Miss Witch's Forbidden Book Secret

In some ways, Eleanor is actually quite suited to be a monarch...

The next morning, Tia held the letter and pondered it for a long time.

The letter read:

Your Excellency is renowned for "solving trouble." Captain Kod Yulongkin—of the Mountain Brigade, Third Imperial Ranger Corps—has become a major headache for the Ministry of the Interior. Two thousand two hundred gold guilders in cash are placed in a secret compartment in the northeast pillar of the St. Dunstan School library; another one thousand two hundred gold guilders will be paid upon completion of the matter. If accepted, tomorrow's *Begonia for Sale* advertisement will be published in *Misty Moon Politics*.

A very interesting letter.

On the one hand, it directly revealed to Tia what Ma'en had come for. On the other hand, the letter was signed by none other than Ma'en's senior, or rather, her current nominal senior, the Sage Jeremiah.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs is inefficient; they have to hire someone to kill an Imperial spy to eliminate one.

What does the Alchemy Society know about governing a country?

I feel like she would be a better choice.

Thinking about this, Tia immediately reflected on herself and realized that she had been influenced by the intense aura of the iris flower, the sheathless blade.

She was just coasting along in Ansu, but she's almost become a hero in Iris.

However, upon reflection, it doesn't seem to be entirely the fault of supernatural powers. Ansu had long since passed its growth phase, while the Iris Flower had just weathered a period of turmoil and was still in its early stages of development; the situations were different. Opportunities for advancement are like a cookie cookie; during the development phase, there are more openings than openings, but during the distribution phase, there are more openings than openings.

The probability of Ansu squeezing her way into Silver Castle to become an inspector in the Grand Police Department is no higher than the probability of her clinging to Eleanor and Anne's coattails. Naturally, forget about striving or being ambitious; if she doesn't latch onto someone powerful, living a peaceful and healthy life will be a good ending for her.

Of course, Tia was thinking of Ansu.

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

The imperial edict must have reached the church, and may have even been delivered to Master White Oak.

But Tia wasn't in a hurry to go; she wanted to wait it out first.

Compared to this, what to do with the corpse of the assassin lady in front of us is still a problem.

Tia had a solution, but she needed someone willing to cooperate. She chose Willie, the police inspector of the Castle District.

Tia took Eleanor's paintbrush and wrote a lengthy request in standard old Silver Castle italics.

The gist of the story is that the astute Chief Willie has apprehended an assassin in the Castle District. This audacious assassin not only plotted to attack the Guardian Frynn, but also went so far as to attempt to assassinate Princess Eleanor of Anzu. Eliminating the foreign forces lurking in Mistmoon City is now of paramount importance! It is recommended that the Mistmoon City headquarters issue a bounty: 50 gold coins for each informant of a spy.

The next morning, she took Cameron's body and the letter to the police station.

Chief Willie was a smart man. Although he was unkempt, burly, had a prominent belly, and often spat everywhere, he was intelligent.

Willie immediately sensed that the letter was interesting.

This is a huge job! Putting aside the elimination of any foreign forces, the corpse that Funina brought is enough for him to receive a commendation and medal from the Castle District headquarters.

If he can achieve some more results and control this year's crime rate, he could probably be promoted from inspector to senior inspector.

—The order of police ranks in Ansu is reversed: Ansu's police hierarchy is: Chief of the Great Silver Fortress (Great Police Department), Senior Superintendent, Superintendent, Senior Inspector, Inspector; while Iris's hierarchy is: Chief of the Mist Moon Bureau, Senior Inspector, Inspector...

Castle District is a large district, so it's impossible for it to be served by just one police station. The entire district has one district headquarters and two district police stations.

Senior Inspector corresponds to the Director of the Castle District Headquarters.

When good things happen, who cares about past grievances?

Now, the Guardian Frinina Bonaparte is the only sun in his heart!

Director Willie immediately slammed his hand on the table and warmly welcomed Tia, shaking her hand repeatedly, saying, "Miss Bonaparte! I now fully understand your passion for irises; you should become my teacher!"

Tia was pleased and said warmly, "You are a true police officer! Justice and morality may never be written in the law, but they are always written in your heart!"

"You flatter me, you flatter me."

The two sides hit it off.

Two days later, Willie went to his superiors, the Castle District Headquarters, to report that "after a fierce battle, they have captured the Imperial assassin Cameron."

—A great victory!

The head of the Castle District Police Department was Lady Liv Meyer, an alchemist who was transferred to the Castle District Police Department because she lacked talent in alchemy. However, Lady Meyer was more of a pure legal scholar than a politician and had little political acumen.

When Willy submitted his report, a hodgepodge of news and Tia's requests, to the General Directorate, Madame de Mettil praised Willy's work and then directly approved his proposal to conduct a thorough spy investigation of the castle district.

Mrs. Mettil didn't even ask about the specific plans or whether the spies had been identified.

She didn't even give a special notice to Durant, the Brumaire governor who considered himself quite capable in governance; she simply submitted a work report to the city hall—because it was the right thing to do.

Thus, under Willie's leadership, the three police departments in the Castle District formed a team to conduct preliminary investigations and collect evidence, which took nearly two weeks in total.

In the past two weeks, Tia has finally waited for the popularity of Furness to subside before setting off for the Oleander.

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

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

"You mean the secret text has been deciphered?"

"Yes, Guardian, I never expected you to actually obtain the imperial decree for me..."

Master Baihu gave a wry smile. He was already wearing the priest's robe of the Holy Church, with two golden shawls draped over his shoulders and a silver crown on his head.

He returned the secret manual that Tia had given him to Tia, along with a manuscript.

Tia could understand most of the manuscript's contents. The remaining part seemed to have been created by a supernatural force, but Tia could understand most of it after studying it for a while.

This is an ancient esoteric text called the "Book of the Red Rose," which primarily discusses the arts of blood and alchemy. The preface also mentions its sister book, the "Book of the White Rose," a esoteric text that discusses the relationship between alchemy and sacred, pure, primordial things.

Tia checked and, confirming it was correct, smiled and said, "Then I really must congratulate you. I have another secret manual here. Would you be interested?"

"The scriptures... Lord Bonaparte, I am indeed filled with a thirst for knowledge. This is a common ailment among all followers of the Holy Grail, but these scriptures are merely what we understand and write down. That knowledge still has a threshold. This is why I, as the one who understands, must teach him step by step and carefully."

Master Baihu said with difficulty, "Besides, now that I have taken up the post of bishop, I must assume the duties of a bishop. I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to help you decipher and teach these esoteric texts in such a short time as I am now."

Tia said, "There's no rush."

There's really no rush; she hasn't even fully grasped the book of transformation she has yet.

And it seems she can understand all of this as long as it can be written in normal language...

Tia said, "But I have one more request."

"Please speak."

"The police station in my castle district is planning an operation to eliminate Imperial spies. But that will inevitably encounter enemies of the supernatural, won't it? Since you've been appointed bishop, could you perhaps mobilize some priests to assist them?"

Chapter 237 I've always been an Ansu native.

Tia certainly didn't go so the priest could help her.

She never even considered finding a few spies—if she actually found a large number of real spies, she would have to consider fleeing back to Ansu immediately...

Charles Moen, the first king of Ansu, said it well: Politics is about people.

What Tia is going to do is something similar.

Simply put, it means forming cliques, factions, nepotism, and excluding dissidents.

Taking advantage of this exciting investigation, she can directly bring a large number of political resources to her side, so at least she won't be without anyone to use. Once the parliamentary resolution is finalized, she won't really become a mascot for the iris.

Otherwise, if things really go according to the script of the Montellima family and Marn Cullen, her deal with Ulrich will be null and void.

If the consequences back then were to come back, they would probably be something she can hardly bear now—after all, Ulrich is suspected of having fallen and become a false god.

Once Master Baihu gave a reply, Tia returned to the Broken Gold River Hotel.

She wasn't in a hurry to look at the Book of Red Roses or to sink into the Upside-Down Temple to examine the spirit of the assassin girl Freya had acquired. Instead, she changed her destination and went straight upstairs to visit Ms. Bernice.

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

When Tia saw Ms. Bernice again, the once white-haired old lady was reading the newspaper and drinking ginger tea as usual.

Although Ms. Bernice was a female minister, she possessed the characteristics of a typical male official in Ansu—not particularly tall, with silvery-white but not sparse hair, very pronounced nasolabial folds, a slightly thin build, and a spine as straight as an umbrella handle. Her only notable trait was that she rarely wore formal attire, preferring casual wear such as black silk dresses.

Occasionally, you can see her alighting from her carriage and holding up a black umbrella on the street.

As for why Tia could recognize Bernice from behind, it all comes down to the story of how Tia struck up a conversation with a noblewoman on a rainy day and borrowed her black lace umbrella, which bore the family's signature. Later, she discovered the same signature on Bernice's umbrella...

Upon finding Ms. Bernice, Tia cut to the chase: "I need someone from you."

"Do you...do you need people?"

Bernice frowned slightly, lost in thought.

Tia added casually, "It's Scarlett Lane."

The renowned old lady couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

What does it mean?

After seducing Eleanor, has he now set his sights on that occasionally impulsive Miss Ryan?

Ms. Bernice's gaze instantly sharpened.

Why did you suddenly bring this up?

"I need some help with some iris-related matters."

Ms. Bernice put down her teacup and suddenly realized.

So it was about the hunt for spies...

She was aware of the mess Tia had recently caused. The news alone was bad enough, but now the castle district police were conducting a thorough search for some imperial spy.

Based on Ansu's fine tradition, Bernice had planted spies around Tia, and naturally knew that Tia was also involved in this matter.

However, she didn't intend to get involved in this matter; it was better to leave the affairs of the Iris Flower people to them. Besides, Ansu only sent a few hundred people to the Iris Flower region, and they didn't have time to deal with these things.

She blurted out, "However, I'm afraid I can't agree to that. Little Sulph, you want Ansu to get involved in the investigation of the spy, right? Forgive my bluntness, but you'd better do it yourself as Furina, and don't let Ansu's influence get involved. This is not only good for us, but also for you."

Ms. Bernice's words carried a deeper meaning.

If before, Funnina Bonaparte could openly maintain contact with Ansu, now that she's in the newspapers, she'd better keep her distance from the people of Ansu.

Of course, this excludes personal relationships like Eleanor's.

The story of the Great Guardian sleeping with Princess Ansu is a popular anecdote from folklore.

Tia shook her head repeatedly and said, "I don't need many people, I only need one."

"To be precise, I need the Bureau of Defense to appoint Surgical Second-Level Specialist, Scarlett Lane."

"I need your help, madam, to erase all records of her work at the Anti-Suppression Bureau so that she can join the great cause of reviving the Iris as a new Iris person."

That's acceptable.

Aside from her close relationship with Tia, Scarlett Lane doesn't have anything particularly special about her.

Bernice was impressed by this occasionally impulsive policewoman. Although she was sometimes too reckless and sometimes too cautious, she was, overall, a specialist with decent professional skills.

The only downside is the slow promotion speed – he only completed the promotion to Sequence 8 after a year.

She roughly understood Tia's intention in choosing Scarlett.

It's nepotism!

Bernice sipped her ginger tea, a hint of curiosity in her voice. "That sounds like it's negotiable. But Sulph, you're an alchemist of extraordinary ability, and alchemy dictates equivalent exchange. What do you intend to offer as payment?"

Tia said, "It's simple, I'll sell out my country—the kind of thing where I sell irises."

Bernice: "???"

"are you serious?"

"I am from Ansu! I am loyal to Her Majesty the Queen! May God bless our King, grant him constant victories and glory! May he be respected by the people, bring them joy, and govern the country with the virtues of a great ruler. I can sing our national anthem!"

That's truly unwavering loyalty...

As far as she knew, at least half of the members of the Silver Castle council didn't know how to sing the full national anthem. Because they only used the first three lines during the oath-taking ceremony...

Bernice was already used to Tia's casual nonsense, and couldn't help but ask, "Are you really willing to sell out the interests of the Iris Company for the sake of Scarlett, a mere commissioner?"

"As long as there's an offer, especially for intelligence, we can wait for the right price."

Tia added, "Besides, even if I don't sell it out, Silver Castle will find out through Scarlett, right? In that case, I might as well just sell it out first."

"Can't we use someone else?" Ms. Bernice chuckled sarcastically. "Like those two little girls who came with you to White Sand Manor to meet Albert back then."

Tia shook her head and said, "In that case, Count Mercury's warships will probably have to sail into the Broken Gold River."

She took a sip of ginger tea and praised it:

"Your ginger tea is really good. The cookies are delicious too."