Mystery: The Witch of Desire

The headless woman stopped Livia in a somber mood, as if she disliked the aura emanating from the sapphire ring.

Her four heads opened their mouths slightly at the same time, exhaling a chilling stream of air, like black mist, which landed on the yellowish-brown parchment and transformed into four lines of small characters exuding an eerie aura:

The final destination of all death, hidden deep within the spirit world, a testament to the inevitable decay of all things, a realm belonging solely to the god of death.

After these four lines of description, the ancient Hermetic script on the brown parchment ignited one after another with a ghastly green flame, casting a gloomy and eerie light all around.

After finishing the main text, Livre wrote her current name at the end:

"Lord of Little White".

This is a technique Miss Sharon taught her: a messenger contract doesn't necessarily require a real name, because one's own aura enters the contract. The name is only used for summoning. Using a nickname makes it easier for the spirit to point to oneself and prevents the exposure of one's true personal information.

The name "Lord of Little White" is both safe and highly specific, since there is probably only one creature in this world with such a strange name as "Little White".

After Liviel finished signing, the parchment floated up, carrying the pen, and flew to the headless woman.

The headless woman, carrying a blonde, red-eyed head, bit down on a round-bellied fountain pen and wrote her name:

"Renette Tinicol."

Tinicol... a somewhat familiar surname.

As Liviel pondered, the pale green flames quickly coalesced and enveloped the yellowish-brown parchment.

A few seconds later, the parchment turned to ashes, and Livre felt a kind of spiritual connection being established between herself and the messenger.

Phew, finally a messenger! "A spirit wandering in illusion, a friendly creature to be commanded, a messenger exclusively for the Lord of the White"... Hmm, I'll have a craftsman make something like a bronze whistle when I get the chance, so I don't have to perform a ritual every time I summon a messenger...

Livre breathed a sigh of relief, in a good mood, and said to the messenger:

"Ms. Tinicol, I have a letter that needs to be mailed right now. Could you please do it for me?"

She wanted to write to Miss Sharon to tell her that she had obtained the messenger. In a similar situation, summoning Miss Sharon's messenger would be more appropriate, but Livre was eager to test the messenger's 'practical' effects.

"Can……"

The messenger girl spoke from two heads in turn, while the other two heads nodded in turn.

Livre picked up her pen and quickly wrote on the letter paper:

'Miss Sharon, I have entered into a messenger contract with a spirit being. The summoning incantation is "A spirit wandering in illusion, a friendly being at your disposal, a messenger solely belonging to the Lord of Little White." Please contact me if needed.'

After she finished writing, she handed the letter to the messenger, who then took it with her head and mouth.

"You can take a look at the letter. It mentions you, but of course, there's nothing substantial in it."

Out of a sense of contract, Livre dutifully reminded the messenger.

The messenger's eyes turned to the letter, and her body seemed to tremble slightly.

Her remaining three heads spoke in turn:

"You can't..." "Do this..." "Write incantations..."

"Because I..." "do not..." "belong to you..."

Upon hearing this, Livre was somewhat surprised: the summoning incantations Miss Sharon explained were all in the format of 'unique to XXX'. Was this messenger simply being aloof? Or was there some occult reason behind it?

At the messenger's request, she changed the last line of the summoning incantation to "The messenger serving the Lord of Little White".

"Deliver it to the Brave Ones bar on the main street of Backlund's Jowood district. For Miss Sharon, uh… can you locate Miss Sharon? She looks like a delicate doll…"

"Yes..." "Ten..." "Gold coins..."

The messenger, holding the letter in her mouth, waited quietly for Livre to make the payment.

Now you're going to charge me...

Livre reluctantly pulled out a 10-pound note:

"Do you accept paper money? If not, I'll have to wait until next time to exchange some for gold coins for you."

"Next time..." "Alright..."

The four heads the messenger was carrying blinked simultaneously, each holding a letter in its mouth. Their figures quickly became ethereal and shrank back into the void above the candlelight.

Phew... Anyway, at least I can keep in touch with Miss Sharon.

Livre breathed a sigh of relief and began to clean up the mess in the room...

……

Brave Ones Bar.

In a dimly lit room, Sharon, wearing a small soft hat, floated in the air, surrounded by dim candlelight.

Then she saw the candle flame expand, and the space above her became distorted and eerily green.

Renette Tinicol, carrying four blonde, red-eyed heads, emerged from above the candlelight and came before Sharon.

Sharon's gaze froze, and her doll-like face suddenly underwent a strong emotional change.

She blurted out:

"teacher!

"You've already..."

……

……

The following morning, Livre left the hotel, leaving the owner 10 sous as payment for cleaning the room and compensation for the damaged floor.

She took a horse-drawn carriage to Backlund train station and bought a ticket for the steam train to Pulitzer Port that day.

It only takes an hour to reach Puerto Prids by steam train, and if you're lucky, you can enjoy a seafood feast with Sunia flavors in Puerto Prids.

Unfortunately, Livre's luck wasn't too good. It was Sunday, and she spent a lot of time queuing at the station to board the train. By the time she arrived in Pulitzer Port, it was already afternoon.

Adhering to the principle of eating less and doing more, Liviel decided to enjoy the seafood feast in the evening and take care of important business first: finding a suitable route to the Southern Continent and buying tickets.

If she had extra time, she wanted to go back to the 'Warrior and the Sea' bar on Pelican Street in the White Rose District of Pulitzer Bay, find the owner Williams, and inquire about Mr. 'Captain' to see if she could uncover Mr. Hanged Man's identity.

Of course, doing so might anger Mr. Hanged Man, and Livre felt she should be more cautious.

Riding in a carriage, Livre arrived at the "Prince Harbour Ticket Office," also located in the White Rose District.

As one of the largest port cities in the northern part of the Kingdom of Loen, Prydz Port handles one-third of Backlund's cargo throughput, but its official ticketing company is located in a rather old three-story building.

However, this did not stop people from all over the country from gathering here. The long queue for tickets even stretched a hundred meters outside the company and turned into the door of a shop selling all kinds of canned goods.

Livre was at the very end of the line, standing right at the shop entrance, where she saw the dazzling array of canned goods inside.

With the intention of stocking up on emergency food, she bought two 500-gram cans: one can of salted pork and one can of braised beef with potatoes.

The heavy cans of food are very substantial; just holding them in your hand brings a reassuring feeling of fullness.

At this moment, Little White, who was hiding under the skirt, spoke up:

"Livia, I'd like another can of wolffish."

Liviel did not refuse and granted Xiaobai's request. She was not a stingy owner to begin with, not to mention that Xiaobai's companionship every night brought her joy.

After paying 1 soule and 5 pence, Livre returned to the group with the canned wolffish, amidst the shopkeeper's somewhat strange gaze.

More than an hour later, Livre finally followed the slow-moving queue to the entrance of the Pulitzer Port ticket office and saw a wooden sign with a notice.

The notice included the words "Important Notes" written in bold, black font:

1. Maintain order and queue strictly;

2. Urinating or defecating indiscriminately is prohibited; spitting indiscriminately is also prohibited.

3. If there is a dispute, please find the guard in the lobby;

4. You are not allowed to open a can of wolffish in any room!

Wolffish canned food? Why?

Livre raised an eyebrow as she looked at the canned wolffish that she had just stuffed into her handbag.

The lobby of the "Prince Harbor Ticketing Company" was quite spacious, with seven or eight ticket windows. People entering the lobby dispersed to each window, significantly reducing the length of the queues, but each queue still had dozens of people.

Livre glanced around, but instead of heading straight to the line with fewer people, she took two steps to the right and came to a straight, upright brown wooden board.

A continuous sheet of white paper was pasted on the wooden board, displaying all the passenger ship information for the past week, including the destination, ports of call, and prices for different cabin classes.

Before Livre could examine it closely, a staff member came over, circled a red area on the second-class section of the direct flight to Bayam, and marked it with a word:

Sold out.

"They're very popular..."

Livre murmured a sigh.

“Of course, beautiful lady. Pritz Port is the kingdom’s largest port, and countless people pass through here to seek opportunities on the southern continent and those colonial islands… Let me introduce myself, my name is Dart, a merchant.”

A man standing next to the wooden plank responded in a slightly exaggerated manner.

He wore a black baseball cap and a stand-up collar leather jacket that was rather out of place in summer, which concealed his face and figure.

Since you're already dressed like this, it's obvious you don't want to reveal your face. In that case, you shouldn't casually strike up conversations with others.

Liviel looked at the man, whose words and actions contradicted each other, with some curiosity, but was immediately stunned:

The man's face had blurred, angular features, resembling those of people from southern Intis, Lenburg, and Segalna. His hands, and all exposed skin, were bronze and quite rough, as if they had been exposed to the sea breeze and sun for many years.

What shocked Livre the most was his tan hair peeking out from under his baseball cap, and his matching tan eyebrows.

Through the actor's ability to observe human appearances, Livre quickly confirmed his identity:

Fourth boatswain of the Golden Dream, a great pirate worth 3000 pounds, and a poorly disguised imposter—Flaming Danitz!

Chapter 155 The Pirate Who Was Controlled

Liviel forcibly suppressed the urge to unleash black flames and burn him to death, cautiously taking a step back and activating her spiritual vision:

Inside and out, the celestial being was in excellent health, possessing the fiery red hue characteristic of a hunter, and an irritatingly provocative aura...

Given Livre's current acting skills, she can basically conclude that this person is the real Flame Danitz, not Nightingale in disguise.

Of course, if the nightingale's camouflage skills are beyond her comprehension, there's nothing she can do about it.

After encountering the imposter, I unexpectedly ran into the real deal? What should I do? Although the sacrifice incident in Tingen may not necessarily be related to Danitz, just looking at his smug smile makes me want to punch him...

By the way, actors can't impersonate people they've never met before. Since Nightingale chose to impersonate Danitz, she must have met him before, and might even have had some contact with him... By secretly staying by Danitz's side, if she discovers any connection between him and the cultists, then she can take care of him without any problem...

Liviel inwardly chuckled wickedly, but on her face she wore a bright smile, like an innocent young girl:

“You may call me Monroe… Mr. Dart, you seem to know this port very well?”

Upon hearing this question, Danitz answered with considerable pride:

“I was once an officer in the Kingdom’s Navy. Their main base was on Oak Island in Pulitzer. I served there for 10 years, spending a long time at sea. If it weren’t for the damn East Byron War destroying my health, I could have been a sailor for another 10 years! I know this port as well as I know the bodies of my mistresses!”

Livre chuckled, pretending to be amused by Danitz's vulgar joke, while inwardly she thought to herself:

Could your lie be any more flimsy? How can an Intis citizen serve in the Kingdom's navy? Does every pirate actually harbor a dream of being a naval officer?

Livre, with the intention of gathering information from the sea, feigned great interest and inquired:

"So what have you been busy with since you retired?"

Danitz patted his chest proudly:

"In the past few years, I've done some luxury goods business, but I haven't made much money. It's just enough to buy a few detached houses in the center of Backlund. Oh, beautiful Miss Monroe, if you have the chance, please do me the honor of visiting my residence in Backlund."

As he spoke, he tried to act like a gentleman and gently pressed his hand to his chest.

Livre raised an eyebrow at this and teased:

"A visit to your residence? That's not an invitation a gentleman would extend to a lady. Or perhaps you want me to become your mistress as well?"

Danitz was taken aback by what he heard, his cheeks flushing slightly, showing the embarrassment of a teenage boy being teased by a girl next door. He muttered under his breath:

"Bullshit! How can this woman talk like that..."

Is this guy really an Intis? He's surprisingly innocent...

Livre chuckled inwardly, ignoring Danitz and continuing to browse the flight information.

She wasn't in a hurry to set off for the Southern Continent immediately, as it was destined to be a long journey, or as the proverb from her previous life's great foodie country would say, "haste makes waste."

Liviel's plan was to first go to Bayam, the capital of the Rosd Islands. This city, known as the 'City of Generosity', was the trade and colonization hub of the Kingdom of Rune in the entire Middle Sonia Sea, and possessed abundant resources and various intelligence information.

In fact, a significant portion of shipping routes to the southern continent stop at the Rothschild Islands for resupply and maintenance. Few passenger ships travel directly to the southern continent; it is neither safe nor economical.