Chapter 850: Ebner’s Plot
After sending Bianca back to the head maid’s bedroom in his own mansion, Ebner set her aside for the ti being.
After all, by reading her mind, he had co to understand that this forr embassy military attaché was really just an ordinary woman who longed for a stable life but could never attain it... Even when Roselle had assigned her to act as a spy, she had only thought about slacking off, planning to sit back and let her "misfortune" kill the enemy.
In essence, she was even more unambitious than the "salted fish" Fors, but her luck was far worse... They were both contaminated by high-level existences, but Fors had the good fortune of encountering Mr. Fool and receiving his protection, whereas Bianca could only wander around carrying this whole debuff.
For soone like her, if it weren’t for the fact that the strange power in her body was tied to his mission, Ebner wouldn’t have made the effort to "study" her—let alone go out of his way to make things difficult.
In Ebner’s view, as long as Bianca could diligently carry out her duties, letting her remain as his head maid permanently wouldn’t be an issue.
As for whether Bianca would be frightened by last night’s "academic research" and choose to resign on her own... that wasn’t sothing he needed to worry about. Thanks to the "hypnotic suggestion" he implanted, she had already ignored any oddities on her body—like changes in clothing or the sudden failure of her Beyonder mask.
Because of that incomplete ritual I decrypted, I might need her again in the future, Ebner didn’t plan to let her go just yet.
After pretending to sigh sentintally for a few seconds, Ebner stopped thinking about Bianca. As he sipped his coffee, he began reading the letter Fors had just sent via her "demonic wolf courier."
Berni City... Mount Kalar... Benjamin’s territory... the ruins in the dream... three-eyed thunderbird...
Interesting... This Benjamin seems to have so connection to the God’s Casket. At the very least, he’s the one who instructed his family to deposit the box in the First Bank and wait for Fors to retrieve it...
And now Fors is being "drawn in" by the ruins... then could this so-called "ruin" have sothing to do with the God’s Casket?
Hmm, Fors has that enchanted item I lent her—"String Puppet"—and several powerful Lightning Charms. Her safety should be assured... After all, that thunderbird and several official teams have been trapped in the ruin for decades and are still alive...
Besides, if necessary, Fors can still call on Mr. Fool for help.
After pondering for a mont, Ebner glanced at the sun that had just risen outside the window, then picked up his pen and wrote a reply letter, telling Fors that he would arrive in Berni City that evening.
Then, he pulled out a small bell from his coat and gave it a shake. As the eight-legged "demonic wolf courier" erged from the void and landed beside his feet, he uncorked a bottle of "Daniel’s Hydrosol" he had personally concocted and let the wolf—nad Abigail—take a whiff. The creature’s furry face imdiately showed a hint of intoxicated delight.
—It had been proven through testing that intelligent undead were especially fond of the hydrosol’s scent.
After rewarding his courier, Ebner placed the letter in its mouth and let it deliver the ssage to Fors.
Once the eight-legged demonic wolf wagged its tail and slipped back into the void, Ebner called for his servant to bring breakfast.
He had only taken a few bites before he keenly noticed that the bread and fried eggs on his plate had diminished. Without hesitation, he activated the "Pure White Eye"—and unsurprisingly saw Miss Closfia sitting across from him, gracefully placing a small piece of bread into her mouth.
"Good morning, Miss Closfia." Ebner politely greeted her, then casually asked while continuing to eat, "Are you back at this hour to share so good news with ?"
Previously, he had assigned Closfia to monitor the Fless family—or more specifically, their forr embassy confidential secretary, Mr. Johnson Fless.
Although the Fless family had two demigods, they were both priests of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun and rarely kept close watch over their family mbers. No matter how special Johnson might be, it was unlikely they would... so Closfia’s assignnt had been relatively easy.
"I’ve finished the investigation. Johnson is ’special’ because he greatly resembles a deceased demigod ancestor of the Fless family. That’s why he likely inherited that person’s Beyonder traits... Heh, families who lack the ans to cleanse the spiritual pollution of traits often rely on similar-looking descendants to mitigate the residual ntal corruption as much as possible.
"The Fless family has long yearned to have a saint of their own, so they’ve placed high hopes on Johnson... Even after the ss he made in Loen, they still value him imnsely."
After saying this, Closfia picked up a glass of milk and took a few sips before continuing, "Also, the intel you obtained earlier—that Johnson was searching for Sun pathway traits or main ingredients for his mistress—is true...
"And he’s quite fond of that mistress. He even considered cutting the line to seize traits intended for other family mbers...
"As per your instructions, I subtly guided him to attend the Beyonder gathering this Thursday night at 22 Condiatt Street."
Ebner smiled at her words and said with satisfaction, "Excellent. Thank you for your hard work. I don’t have anything else planned over the next few days—consider it your vacation."
"That really is good news... I’ll take the chance to check whether Helen is sticking to my script!" Closfia said cheerfully.
"What kind of script did you give Miss Helen?" Ebner asked curiously.
"It’s a secret!" Closfia replied with a mysterious smile. Then she added, "Anyway, if I told you—or anyone else—Helen would definitely flip out."
Now I’m even more curious... Ebner inwardly complained, but didn’t press further.
...
At noon, beside a road near Grape Vine Manor, Sello Delien—once the High Priest of the Eternal Blazing Sun and now claid by fate—once again appeared in Ebner’s carriage.
"My lord..." This handso-looking middle-aged man bowed respectfully and reported, "I’ve subtly leaked word to the church-aligned mbers of the family that a Sun pathway mid-sequence trait will appear at Miss Margaret’s Beyonder gathering on Thursday night. They will certainly send soone to compete...
"They can’t allow the Lord’s power to fall into outside hands!
"If it were being sold to a devout believer, they might be able to accept it... but Johnson clearly isn’t."
"Well done," Ebner praised as he toyed with the "Sun Priest" trait he had obtained from the Shadow Saint. The reason he hadn’t sold it was because he planned to use it at the right ti to sow discord between Delien and Fless.
"By the way, this gathering’s host—Miss Margaret—can she be trusted?" Ebner asked after a mont’s thought.
"Temporarily, yes... Margaret is one of the leaders of the n in Black, code-nad ’Plum 12.’ She is also the Red Saintess of the Demoness Sect... She doesn’t trust
completely and doubts that I’m truly Roselle reborn. So aside from her public operations, she hasn’t had any n in Black forces pledge allegiance to ...
"Still, until she fully exposes , she should remain reliable." Sello thought it over and replied.
"I see." Ebner nodded slightly, then asked, as if rembering sothing, "That Mr. Henry, the second-largest shareholder in Sushit Bank—he’s one of hers, isn’t he?"
"Yes, but based on my intel, Mr. Henry is actually a peripheral mber of the Theosophy Order, not a true Man in Black... Margaret likely gave him instructions using her Red Saintess identity, which is why he reached out to Johnson from the Fless family." Sello explained.
"No matter which identity she used to make the arrangent... In any case, I want you to have the Delien family outbid Henry and Johnson for the shares just before the deal closes." Ebner paused here, then asked, "Can you do it?"
"It shouldn’t be a problem. So factions in the family never took the Flesses seriously..." Sello nodded first, then hesitated slightly before suggesting tactfully, "Actually, we could skip all this and just have
kill Johnson directly—"
"The tension needs ti to build. When it erupts, it must be intense! The Delien family is still too powerful. If we set off the ’bomb’ now, it won’t shake their foundation..."
As he spoke, Ebner pulled back the curtain of the carriage window, looked toward the distant Delien Castle, and continued, "Besides, I already promised Johnson’s life to a certain lady friend... so he can’t die just yet."
...
That night, in a room at a Berni City inn, Fors tossed and turned in bed for a long while before suddenly throwing off the covers and sitting up. She looked helplessly at Ebner, who was seated at the bedside reading a diary.
"You sitting there—I can’t fall asleep at all!"
(End of Chapter)
Let
know when you’re ready for the next Chapter.
Reviews
All reviews (0)