After listening to everything from Greed's group, Envy fell silent, pondering about what she had just heard.
She never thought that a small and weak country like the Tessia Kingdom in Southeast Asia would have experienced a conflict between mages resulting in significant collateral damage and loss of life on the scale of a civil war.
She had heard reports about a bomb going off in the Tessia Kingdom, but the news had claid that it was set off by terrorists in the middle of the city, not authorized by soone from the higher-ups or the mages.
If Greed hadn't told her that the bomb was caused by Lucien, who authorized the Tessia Kingdom army to drop it in the middle of the city, she wouldn't have believed it either. And to make matters worse, the bomb was an artifact weapon!
Lucien's actions dangerously approached breaking a taboo of the Curtained World. How dare he! Even though Lucien was a councilor, he needed to take responsibility for his actions and pay the price!
Envy felt enraged at Lucien's actions, but she knew that many mages would do anything to gain more power. It is the nature of mages to study, experint, and delve into the unknown realm to gain more power, as demanded by the world's nature. However, there needs to be a limit to how far one can go.
Although she wanted to bring Lucien to justice, Envy knew that he had many allies among the Hightower council. It was important to note that the ruling party of Hightower consisted of three councils.
Envy knew that bringing Lucien to justice would be no easy task, as he had many allies amongst the Hightower council. This ruling party consisted of three councils, each with varying degrees of power and influence.
The first council was the Normal Council, made up of 300 representatives from small to dium mage clans and families. These clans had varying levels of strength, with so relying on a single powerful mber to gain qualification for a council seat.
The second council was the High Council, consisting of 30 representatives from large and powerful clans like Stenmark and Alchemont. These clans held significant influence in the Curtained World, with Stenmark known for their high-quality rune stones and Alchemont for their monopolization of homunculus creation.
The third and most powerful council was the Grand Council, composed of only three individuals whose strength was absolute. They may not have had their own clans, like Envy, but their strength surpassed all others. Rumors even circulated that the Grand Councilors were capable of using ancient magic and defeating powerful entities like Satan or Archangel in single combat.
Envy turned towards her butler, Harry, who was waiting by her side.
"Harry," she said. "Clear my schedule for tomorrow. I'll attend the hearing and see if anyone in the High Council dares to defend Lucien."
"May I ask if you wish to cancel your eting with the Onmyouji group tomorrow, or shall I simply reschedule it?" asked Harry with a professional smile.
"Just reschedule it, and apologize to them on my behalf," Envy replied. "It's impolite to cancel a eting, and I don't want our relationship with the Onmyouji from Japan to turn sour at our first few contacts."
"Of course, my lady. It will be done," said Harry, bowing respectfully before leaving to carry out his master's orders.
"Aunt Envy, what are Onmyouji? Are they mages from Japan?" Greed asked curiously.
"Sothing like that, but their principles work differently from ours. I think we could learn a lot from each other if they are sincere about establishing a connection with us," Envy said optimistically about the potential benefits of forming a connection with the Onmyouji.
Afterwards, Envy spent so ti with the group as they caught up on old tis and shared their experiences while away. Greed, in particular, seed to enjoy the reunion with Envy, who had raised her and many of the Witch of the Seven Deadly Sins.
While they were chatting, Ragnar took a look at Klaus and Yuki, who were sitting nearby, before turning towards Envy.
"Lady Envy, may I have a private word with you?" Ragnar said solemnly, his gaze fixed on Envy.
Seeing a serious look from Ragnar, Envy thought about so funny monts she experienced with him.
"Oh my... Now that you've grown older, you want to court despite having three wives? Even now, in my eyes, you are still a child, you know," Envy said with a teasing grin.
Ragnar blushed, hearing the senior in front of him bring up his embarrassing mont from back then when he visited the Hightower HQ for the first ti and still didn't know who Envy was.
Back then, he was a rebellious young man in his twenties, ready to take on the world, and had a deanor of a young master of the Stenmark Clan with an amorous attitude.
He t Envy and thought she was the daughter of so mage aristocrat in Europe, worthy of his affection. Oblivious to the fact that she was a Grand Councilor, he courted her at the party under the eyes of many senior mages and his father, who nearly had a heart attack right there.
In the middle of their amusent, Envy accepted Ragnar's courtship and danced with him for a song. Then, she revealed herself as one of the Grand Councilors of the Hightower, shocking Ragnar on the spot. He even leaked a little bit out of fear and horror, traumatizing him.
eaglesnovɐ1,сoМ "Cough… Please, don't bring up that embarrassing mont, Lady Envy. It's a matter of utmost importance this ti," Ragnar coughed exaggeratedly, trying to shift the conversation back to the serious matter at hand.
Envy chuckled, "Oh co now, Child. I thought it was quite charming how you courted back then. But alright, I won't embarrass you further."
Seeing that Ragnar was serious and on guard against Klause and Yuki, Envy waved her finger and created a sound barrier that only included her, Ragnar, and Greed.
"There, now we can speak without any eavesdroppers. What's on your mind, child?" Envy asked with a smile, still not letting up on calling Ragnar a child, which caused Greed to laugh a little at Envy's playfulness.
Ragnar wasn't sure whether to laugh or sigh at Envy's teasing, but he kept his composure and didn't show any sign of embarrassnt on his face.
"Lady Envy, may I have access to the Hightower's secret library?" Ragnar asked, getting straight to the point.
Envy's expression turned serious upon hearing Ragnar's request. The library was only accessible to the Grand Councilor and a select few, so she was curious as to why Ragnar would ask to enter.
"Why do you want to enter the secret library? Is there sothing specific you're looking for?" Envy inquired.
"Have you ever heard of the na, Atlanteus?" Ragnar inquired.
Hearing the na, Envy's eyes grew sharp, as she knew about the said na. It was a na she didn't expect to hear from Ragnar.
"Where did you hear that na?" Envy asked in a serious tone.
"It was the na of one of that kid's teachers, Daniel," answered Ragnar.
Envy was already familiar with Daniel from her conversation with Greed earlier. They had discussed the situation in the Tessia Kingdom and everything surrounding the genius Artificer, Daniel.
"You said that was one of this kid's teachers. Do you know about his other teacher?" Envy asked, feeling apprehensive about the na of the other teacher.
"Yes, it turns out… the kid was also an excellent alchemist. I saw him transmute glass into gold with bare hands without using any tools or transformation array. He said that the teacher who taught him alchemy was Hers Trisgistus," replied Ragnar.
Envy's face grew even more solemn upon hearing Ragnar's answer. It was as if she had heard a horrifying truth that she didn't think would ever co to pass.
She looked at Ragnar again, then turned to Greed, who looked worried after seeing Envy's expression.
"Follow . I'll lead you two to the secret library," Envy said as she stood up, ready to guide them.
"But all of my contribution points will be used to set up an urgent trial! It will not be enough to enter the secret library!" Greed protested. She was not like the old-tir Ragnar, who had stored up a lot of contribution points during his long life. Greed's power aspect made it worse, as she redeed points from ti to ti when she wanted sothing.
The contribution point system in the Hightower was designed to make all mages strive for themselves and the betternt of the Hightower.
Anything a mage did for the Hightower, whether it was a mission or donation to the Hightower cause, would be compensated with points. These points could later be used by the mage to redeem rewards that were often unavailable elsewhere, such as Atlantean artifacts, forbidden tos, or permission orders to allow the mage to use live humans as experintal subjects for a period of ti.
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