By the ti Fisher ca out of the cafe, it was already almost half past eight; more than twenty minutes had passed since the ti arranged with Anna.
The ti spent with Elizabeth in the cafe flew by, yet he himself felt as if only five minutes had passed.
After coming out, he hurriedly got into a carriage and prepared to go to the Mio Cetery where he had arranged to et with Anna.
Upon getting in and hearing the destination Fisher announced, that coachman even specially opened the small window of the carriage compartnt and stared hard to take a good look at Fisher. After confirming that he was a living person, he slowly started the carriage.
"Going to the Mio Cetery right now will cost an extra 20 Ores..."
Hearing the coachman in front, Fisher in the carriage was instantly at a loss, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Stories of the night and the cetery always made people's thoughts wander far and wide. Vampire stories had been very popular in Naris for a ti previously. The stories were so hot that residents would hoard Church holy water in their hos, deeply afraid that one day, an unmanageable bloodsucking monster would appear in their own hos.
Fisher agreed to his request for extra money. He also needed to arrive there quickly. Being more than half an hour late, Fisher suspected Anna might have thought he stood her up and left.
The Mio Cetery was in the suburbs, but not in the direction of Saint-Nazareth University, rather in another direction, situated near the woods enveloped by the night curtain. Walking a bit further in this direction would take one out of Saint-Nazareth city.
The cetery as a whole was entirely contained within fences, and the overall area was very large. This was because people in Saint-Nazareth who didn't possess their own land would bury their deceased relatives in this public cetery.
At this mont, looking out from inside the carriage compartnt, many neatly arranged tombstones of varying sizes quietly gazed at the living passing by, standing like tall ghosts.
There was no lighting inside the cetery, and ordinarily, nobody would co over here at night.
A gust of gloomy wind brushed past, making the leaves of the trees rustle and bringing about a gloomy feeling that made one shiver with fear.
Just as Fisher stepped out of the carriage, the coachman behind lightly snapped his horsewhip and left this place without stopping, not caring at all about how Fisher would get back to the city area.
Looking at the quiet cetery in front of him, Fisher was unsure if there would be an ambush, so he first stood his walking stick up, preparing to release a magic spell.
As the magic crest lit up, a microwave imperceptible to the naked eye gently spread out, lightly colliding with the cetery in front of him.
And Fisher himself opened his eyes to see the microwave pass through the fences and tombstones in front of him, striking the bodies of living creatures, and transmitting a microwave back.
Four-ring magic, [Visual Field Microwave Magic].
This kind of magic could transmit microwaves that resonated with life. The quantity and oscillation amplitude of the returning microwaves would display the number and size of lives inside. This was a magic Fisher had advanced and engraved into his walking stick to prevent being ambushed by Anna. In his embrace, there were also those dozen or so magic playing cards already engraved.
The microwaves that traveled back displayed that there were only two humanoid creatures inside, with no other large-scale creatures.
One was the cetery keeper at the other end of the cetery, and one was in the center of the cetery, which should be Anna.
Feeling relieved, Fisher put away the walking stick. He didn't turn on a light, stealthily feeling his way toward the direction of that humanoid shape.
The cetery was very quiet. Fisher quickly arrived at the exact position he had just surveyed. In the moonlight, he saw a lady quietly kneeling in front of a tombstone.
That lady was wearing a black robe and possessed an extrely beautiful face; she was none other than Anna from the Pink Pavilion.
He didn't speak first, but instead, first glanced at the tombstone she was directly facing. So text was engraved on that tombstone, and so offerings that only believers in the Mother Goddess would use were laid out there. Most of them were flowers, and there was also a small bottle of holy water with its cap opened.
The Church's ceremonial customs maintained that the bottle of holy water represented the longing of the living for the deceased. Only when the overflowing longing turned into holy water could it communicate with souls that had departed from this world long ago.
She quietly knelt on the ground, lightly closing her eyes, her hands making a devout gesture of prayer toward that tombstone.
Fisher observed her for quite a while before using his walking stick to light a faint glow. He softly walked to her side and looked toward the tombstone she was praying at.
Many nas different from nas of West Continent people were carved on that tombstone; they should be people from the Southern Continent.
Hatulu Lu, Skodali Lu, Amash Lu...
There were very many nas. Aside from the resting words "May you rest in peace" that the Church would write, there were only those extrely long nas arranged in combination on the tombstone. There wasn't a single extra word because there wouldn't have been enough space to write them.
Walking closer at this mont, Fisher finally noticed a chisel lying by her feet. Beneath the tombstone, many stone chips were also left behind; evidently, she had just been engraving sothing.
Thus, Fisher's gaze shifted downward. By the light of his walking stick, he quickly saw the matching na added at the very bottom.
Kaje Lu.
"These are family mbers or friends from a tribe of yours in the Southern Continent, right?"
Looking at that row of identical surnas, Fisher softly opened his mouth and inquired.
Anna also returned to the real world from her previous prayer. Quietly looking at the tombstone in front of her, she opened her mouth and said.
"I was rigidly bound by that scum, struggling for so many years, before I was able to secretly buy such a tombstone in the corner of the cetery here so they could temporarily rest in peace, and in passing record the nas of so many of them... It's been too long, and there are too many people. I was worried I would forget their nas, so I recorded them down like this first."
"When leaving the West Continent, I will smash this tombstone and then bring them ho. This is what I once promised them."
Anna covered her own body and said this.
The two of them looked at the tombstone, pausing for quite a while. Then Anna slowly stood up and looked at Fisher beside her. Sizing up his intact and uninjured body, she opened her mouth to mock him.
"...I thought you had already been attacked by the monsters of the Healing House and died halfway here. I was even preparing to pack up and go back, and in passing see if anyone would collect your corpse."
Evidently, she was blaming Fisher for being late.
Fisher was not angry. On the contrary, he said.
"Just now, I t with Her Highness Elizabeth and reported your matter completely to her..."
"Really?!"
Anna's beautiful expression changed slightly, casting aside that mocking and complaining appearance. Her excitent was almost overflowing in expression. It seed that in the matter of dealing with Black and wanting to regain freedom, she was even more passionate than he was.
"It's true. But you didn't tell about Black being the largest shareholder of the Nazarene Developnt Company."
"The largest shareholder?"
Anna's expression was sowhat surprised. Having lived in Naris for a long ti, of course she knew what the Nazarene Developnt Company represented. She instantly felt sowhat uneasy. Looking at Fisher, she explained.
"I... I didn't know about the matter of him being a shareholder of the Nazarene Developnt Company. I'm completely unclear about what he did before I ca to the West Continent. I only heard that when he was young, he went out to pioneer many tis, and he was even the first to discover the Southern Continent, and is powerful and influential in Naris..."
It was impossible for Black to completely trust these subordinates; it was normal for her to be unclear about many things. Fisher did not pursue the matter deeply, rely continuing to inquire.
"Princess Elizabeth agreed to cooperate with you, but restricted by Black's identity, she cannot make a move until critical evidence is obtained. Therefore, I have to find the evidence first..."
Just as Fisher finished speaking, she connected the answer.
"The evidence is in the vault storing the Life and Death Dependency Bell Artifact. Stored there are the relics and experintal materials needed for the Healing House to conduct human experints. Moreover, Katerina's Healing House will periodically destroy the evidence of conducting experints, and will absolutely not leave anything behind... This is the intel I got from Katerina."
Anna's tone was sowhat hurried. At the sa ti, as she spoke, she would constantly glance to the side, deeply afraid that so Human-Insect discovering her traces was crouching sowhere, about to report the news of her betrayal to Black.
"Katerina hasn't disclosed the location of the vault, but she absolutely knows where it is... There are clues to the location of the vault in the Healing House. Although that woman is stupid, she left a way out for herself. She wrote the location of the vault behind a painting, using this as a clue to threaten Black, avoiding Black abandoning her later just like he abandoned the previous head of the Healing House."
Fisher raised an eyebrow, looking at her suspiciously.
"How do you know about such a secret?"
Anna let out a "Hmph." Regarding Fisher's suspicion, she said disdainfully.
"That scum Black is recently hiding in his house and not coming out. Every month recently, there will be a week where he will not co out from his room. Katerina and I will both do so small actions during this week that he will not detect..."
"Katerina is a very stupid person. And the Pink Pavilion is best at making stupid people speak, especially when Katerina is still a stupid person who likes won."
Hiss...
Fisher frowned slightly. Why did it feel like the sexual orientation in Saint-Nazareth had been led astray ever since he returned from the Southern Continent in recent months? Or was it that after resuming diplomatic relations with Schwari, the strange traditions from there had drifted over along the monsoon?
If it wasn't Schwari's fierce n, then it was artificial witches like Karolina whose psychology had already changed. Now he had even encountered a female who liked ladies... The world was too big, accommodating far too many things Fisher had found hard to encounter previously.
But since she had brought the words to this point, Fisher continued to speak down the line.
"So, I only need to enter the Healing House and look for a painting with an address written on the back, right? It shouldn't sound this simple. If it were this simple, it couldn't be called a way out."
Anna threw an appreciative glance at Fisher, then sighed, raised one finger and said.
"The Healing House is extrely difficult to enter. It is divided into the Surface Area on the ground and the Inner Area below the ground. The Surface Area there only serves females, and one must strictly follow a reservation to enter. One can also only move about in a small section of space. anwhile, the 'Inner Area' below ground is where she could possibly hide the painting... But right now I have managed to inquire about an opportunity. Soon, there will simply be a children's charity gala held in the Surface Area of the Healing House."
"That charity gala is held under Black's na. In the past, it has always been arranged inside the Healing House, and there is cooperation with the Petrie Bank as well as the royal family. When the ti cos, even the prince will co over. At that ti, Katerina will definitely be greeting guests outside, and she will also open the entire Surface Area to wealthy rchants and nobles."
"However, the entry requirents for that charity gala are extrely strict. Can you get a ticket to get in? Only after smoothly entering the Surface Area first can I give you the thod to enter the Inner Area..."
According to what Anna said, the Healing House previously seed to have truly been a normal recuperation place. It was roughly not long after Anna arrived in the West Continent that taking human experints started there; otherwise, Black would not be stupid enough to put the venue of the gala at the Healing House.
Hmm?
Children's Charity Foundation?
Cooperating with the Petrie Bank and the royal family as well?
Why did Fisher feel this sounded a little familiar?
With an eccentric expression, he reached into his embrace and pulled out that business card Keken had left for him when he departed that day. The identity information written on it was.
"General Manager of the St. Nari Children's Relief Charity Foundation, Petrie Bank — Keken Bécquer"
Fisher opened his mouth, while Anna simultaneously leaned closer to look at the business card in his hand. When she saw the business card in Fisher's hand, she was also stunned and fell silent.
Previously she had thought Fisher was just a scholar living off a woman, but looking at it now, it seed his social network was still extrely broad. He actually even had the contact thod of the general manager of the Petrie Bank's charity foundation?
After being silent for a second, Anna asked dryly.
"Is your relationship with this manager good?"
"...It's okay; it shouldn't be difficult to ask him for a favor. First tell how to enter the Inner Area after entering the Surface Area, right?"
"After you enter..."
Before Anna could finish speaking, the voice of a middle-aged man suddenly ca from behind the tombstone, interrupting the words she had just wanted to say.
"Who is speaking over there?!"
Fisher's expression changed. He proactively blocked in front of Anna, putting his arms around her and retreating to the trees beside the tombstone in a flash. The light of his walking stick also went out randomly, turning instead into an eerie purple light that lit up.
A thick black mist seeped out from that purple light, reflecting the landscape of the trees behind Fisher and Anna.
Two-ring magic, [Blinding Black Mist Magic].
In the darkness, Anna tightly gripped Fisher's coat, nervously looking at the cetery keeper who ca walking out from behind holding a lamp. That middle-aged man held the lamp and looked toward Fisher's direction, but as if discovering nothing at all, he looked toward other places again.
After seeing the offerings laid out on the ground there, the cetery keeper's body trembled slightly.
"Mother Goddess protect , surely it couldn't be a ghost coming to pay respects in the middle of the night..."
His lips quivered. He hastily held his lamp and departed from here, deeply afraid that so evil spirit would follow him.
Anna's heartbeat was slightly fast. She wasn't short, so that fragrant breathing struck Fisher's collar. At the sa ti, her body was soft and well-proportioned, as light and inviting to knead as cotton candy.
"He left..."
Only after that cetery keeper walked far away did Anna speak softly in Fisher's embrace, reminding him to quickly distance himself from her and not keep hugging her.
But Fisher wouldn't indulge her. Instead, looking down at Anna, he spoke sowhat speechlessly.
"So why don't you let go of my coat?"
After Fisher finished speaking, Anna finally realized after the fact that she was tightly gripping his coat.
She hurriedly let go of Fisher's clothes, distancing herself from his side by a span of several steps. In passing, she straightened out her skirt.
The atmosphere was slightly awkward. Anna shot a glance at Fisher, unnaturally jumping topics.
"Why didn't he discover us just now?"
"I used a magic spell."
Fisher casually brushed her off. Anna also cald her mood slightly, picking up the previous topic.
"...After entering the Surface Area, you have to find a room called the [Recuperation Room]. The entrance to enter the Inner Area is right there in that room. But once you open the entrance to enter the Inner Area, Katerina will know..."
Speaking to this point, Anna smiled coldly.
"But it will be the charity gala at that ti. It's impossible for her to make a huge commotion in order to hunt you down, and you will also be much safer. Just find the location of the hidden vault there..."
Fisher sorted out the information obtained here from Anna, and only after asking a few questions that might arise did he feel relieved.
"The charity gala is this very weekend. You have to hurry up and find that friend of yours to help see if you can get in... If it really doesn't work, finding Her Highness Elizabeth is also fine."
Well, Anna was truly even more anxious than Fisher. Before leaving, she still repeatedly exhorted Fisher to pay attention to the ti.
She didn't quite trust Fisher's execution ability as an academic scholar, deeply afraid that he might have so mishap in the operation, thereby causing her grand plan to regain freedom to fail. In this way, it conversely seed that Fisher was the one slacking off.
"I know. I'll take care of it."
"Wait a minute..."
Fisher nodded, preparing to take his leave, but just as he was about to depart, Anna opened her mouth and called out to stop him once again.
Turning his head to look at Anna in confusion, he saw her draw out a small handkerchief from her embrace, then pull out a water flask from her bag to dab so water on it, and she walked in front of Fisher.
She pulled at Fisher's collar. Reaching out to wipe the collar, she simultaneously opened her mouth to speak.
"I forgot to say just now, my lipstick got on your collar..."
So it turned out that just now, when he grabbed her to dodge the cetery keeper's line of sight, she had accidentally leaned against him and rubbed it on. Anna was very ticulous, discovering this hidden danger that might have remained, so she ca over to wipe that red lipstick mark clean for Fisher.
"Fortunately, it didn't sar deeply; it can be wiped off."
"Thanks."
Anna shot a glance at him. After making sure that the mark was wiped completely clean, she did not step away from Fisher's side. On the contrary, she spoke sowhat softly.
"No need. You helping to regain freedom is the greatest gratitude. As long as I can regain freedom, it doesn't matter what I pay... If you feel you've taken a loss, you can even have if you want."
As she spoke, she gently leaned against Fisher's body. One hand gently stroked Fisher's back, a beautiful face looking straight at Fisher. There were no traps in her eyes, only the simplest plea.
As if tempting Fisher to commit a cri, her body was fragrant and soft.
It had been ntioned before that she was the most beautiful woman Fisher had ever seen. However, facing her terms, Fisher rely reached out gently and grabbed her wrist, taking away the hand stroking his back.
"There is an old rule in Naris: when attending a wedding or paying respects, one must bring so gifts... I didn't bring any today. If the matter succeeds, just treat it as a casual gift given to those companions of yours. Rest assured, I will handle it properly."
After saying that, Fisher waved at her, extinguishing the light of the walking stick, and walked towards the entrance of the cetery.
His figure moved further and further away, rapidly vanishing into the darkness.
Remaining in place, Anna pursed her lips, looking at the tombstone erected in the corner of the cetery. She gently clutched her own chest, as if the heart there had begun to beat for the first ti.
"May the Mother Goddess protect you..."
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