Lord of Mysteries:The Good Witch

After returning to the surface, Angel quickened her pace, almost as if fleeing from the Black Thorn Security Company. The main reason was undoubtedly Dunn Smith's scrutinizing gaze in the basement, which made Angel suddenly realize that she might not have gained the trust of the Nighthawks yet.

No, it was almost certain that they didn't trust her. If the Nighthawks, being the church's armed force specializing in dealing with Beyonder criminals, were to easily trust and accept an unofficial Beyonder being, that would be strange indeed.

Identity checks, various assessments, and surveillance - these were the issues she should be facing. Instead, one day she was brought back for protective monitoring like a suspect, and the next day she had signed a contract and started working. They even generously provided materials for her to exhaust her spirituality daily to produce ammunition for them?

If all this was just to keep her in check and prevent her from escaping, then everything would make sense.

Angel believed that letters or telegrams requesting an investigation into her identity had surely already reached the Nighthawks or police station in Backlund, the capital of the Loen Kingdom. She wondered about the efficiency of government agencies in this era compared to the fake identity sellers of "Wild at Heart."

Although Madam Sharon was dead and no one knew about the relationship between Angel Granger and Cole Granger, if her forged identity was discovered, all the suspicious points about her would be magnified under heavy scrutiny, and flaws would eventually be found.

Her only hope was that the fake document peddlers would do their job conscientiously, truly placing her files in the Backlund archives within a week as they had promised.

Sitting in a public carriage with the box of materials, Angel gazed at the bustling streets outside, and a thought crossed her mind once again: Should she run away one more time?

Upon returning to 6 Daffodil Street, she took out her key, opened the door, and went inside. Trommy had already finished cleaning the house and left, but it seemed he had departed not long ago. There was still a faint trace of wiping on the tea table, the tea set was placed upside down to avoid dust, and water stains had slid down with gravity, leaving a ring of undried marks on the table surface.

Angel carefully stored her copy of the contract in the study and carried the wooden box full of materials into the basement. In the dim basement, with only a sliver of light falling from the exit, the interior layout remained the same as when she had last left under her dark vision.

After organizing the materials she had received, she returned to the study via the stairs. She didn't plan to make "Storm Convergence" bullets during the day, as this work would quickly deplete her already limited spirituality. It was better to do it before bed.

Moreover, today was Monday, the day of the "Tarot Gathering."

The mysterious "Fool" above that gray fog brought her a sense of mystery and pressure far surpassing anyone she had encountered in this world.

Although Madam Sharon was powerful, her identity wasn't mysterious. Through Cole Granger's memories, Angel could roughly understand the abilities of the lower sequences of the Assassin pathway, which was an important reason why she was able to kill Madam Sharon with the help of the Nighthawks.

Dunn Smith and Daly Simone, both Beyonder of the Nighthawks, had their own unique abilities. The former, as the captain of the Tingen Nighthawks, possessed the "Nightmare" ability to make people dream remotely. The latter demonstrated the ability to quickly control opponents and render them helpless during the battle with Madam Sharon.

However, all these Beyonder abilities were within Angel's realm of understanding. With her rich combat experience from her previous life, she could find many weaknesses in these people. As long as her own abilities improved further, defeating them wasn't impossible.

Only when facing the mysterious "Fool" did she have no clue at all.

Perhaps it was truly as he said, just a whim to try this out?

At three o'clock in the afternoon, carrying these questions and speculations, Angel watched as a deep red light surged from the teardrop-shaped mark on her palm, enveloping her.

Just like last week's "gathering," the ancient bronze long table appeared before her eyes, surrounded by a majestic temple floating in the ever-present gray fog. Among the twenty-two high-backed chairs, besides herself, three other blurred human forms were seated, their positions unchanged from last time.

The mysterious "Fool," shrouded in gray fog, sat leisurely at the head of the long table, one hand stroking his chin as if in thought, the other hand flat on the edge of the table, fingers tapping rhythmically.

Beside him, the long-haired girl "Justice" still maintained her curious nature, looking around as if she couldn't believe she had come to this place again. If her face could be seen clearly, it would surely be filled with excitement and enthusiasm.

Across from her, "The Hanged Man" calmly leaned back in his chair, his body away from the bronze long table. He glanced at "The Fool," but as if feeling it was somewhat offensive, quickly averted his gaze and shifted his focus to Angel.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool," the enthusiastic girl first greeted the initiator of the gathering, then turned to the other two with the same tone of greeting.

Angel and The Hanged Man politely returned the greeting, and to her surprise, even the mysterious Fool responded to Justice.

After the pleasantries, Angel was the first to speak, expressing her gratitude to The Hanged Man: "Mr. Hanged Man, thank you for your help last week. My friend has already obtained the identity documents."

Worried that haggling over a small amount of money would affect her image in the gathering, she didn't mention Hager's last-minute price increase.

"You're welcome. Although that fellow is quite greedy, he does the job properly once he's paid. To be honest, I've worked with him before, and even the Backlund police couldn't find any problems."

I hope they really can't find any problems, otherwise, I might not be able to attend the next gathering...

Thinking of her current predicament, Angel could only pray that The Hanged Man's "business partner" was indeed as reliable as he said.

"Mr. Hanged Man, have you received the ghost shark blood?" As soon as the conversation between the two ended, Miss Justice eagerly inquired about the result of last week's transaction.

"Thank you very much, the item is perfect. According to last week's agreement, I will tell you the formula for the 'Spectator' potion."

Last week, Miss Justice had exchanged ghost shark blood for The Hanged Man's "Spectator" potion formula. They had adopted the transaction mode guaranteed by "The Fool," where Justice first sent the ghost shark blood to the location specified by The Hanged Man, and after he confirmed the item, he would personally reveal the potion formula.

It seemed it was time for The Hanged Man to fulfill his promise.

From the memories left by Cole and her experiences over this period, Angel knew that potion formulas in this world were extremely valuable resources, either passed down within various churches and secret organizations or inherited by long-standing families through generations. If outsiders wanted to obtain them, they could only spend a high price to purchase, and even then, they might not get the correct one.

Angel had just obtained the "Diviner" formula from the Nighthawks that morning, and seeing the two about to trade publicly, she became interested.

As the wise say, a formula shared with everyone becomes many formulas.

Evidently, The Hanged Man had also heard similar proverbs. He didn't immediately recite the formula but hesitantly looked at Angel. On the contrary, Justice, who had paid for the formula, didn't seem to mind this knowledge being known to a third party.

At this moment, the fog-shrouded figure of "The Fool" moved slightly, raising his hand from the table and waving it forward.

A curled piece of parchment and a steel pen appeared in front of The Hanged Man, as if they had been there all along but were only now noticed.

"It seems your transaction has encountered a small problem," a deep voice came from the head of the bronze table. "Mr. Hanged Man, try to pick up the pen, imagine the content you need to write in your mind, and give it an urgent desire to write, then put pen to paper."

"Thank you for your help."

The Hanged Man tried to touch the paper and pen in front of him, confirming that they were real and not illusions in his mind, before picking up the steel pen. After pondering for a moment, he smoothed out the parchment.

Even guarding against one's own people?

Watching the blurry parchment under the gray fog quickly fill with text under The Hanged Man's will, Angel's little scheme disappeared like a punctured balloon with a "pop."

After recording the potion formula in his mind, The Hanged Man picked up the parchment, carefully checked it once, rolled it up, and gently pushed it forward. The parchment rolled a few times, moving along the mottled surface of the bronze long table to his diagonal opposite, in front of Miss Justice.

Watching the potion formula worth hundreds of pounds roll past her, Angel was very tempted to snatch it, but thinking of the unfathomable abilities of the actual controller of this place - The Fool - she didn't dare to do such a foolish thing.

Not allowing a third party to freeload ensures that transactions can continue in the long term - she could only console herself this way.

Justice received the parchment, unrolled it, and studied it carefully for a long time before looking up excitedly and saying to The Hanged Man, "Thank you, Mr. Hanged Man. I've memorized it."

"Then the transaction is complete. Configuring low-sequence potions is very simple. You add the materials in the formula in order, but remember, it's better to use less than more..."

The Hanged Man imparted knowledge about configuring potions to Justice, who was clearly a newcomer to mysticism. He didn't avoid sharing this information with Angel, but she had just observed Old Neil preparing the "Diviner" potion for Klein that morning, and with Cole Granger's memories, she was already familiar with this.

Miss Justice, like a diligent student listening attentively to a lecture, nodded as she listened and even used the pen provided by The Fool to take notes on the parchment. This atmosphere, reminiscent of a university classroom, made Angel quite bored, especially since she had already heard all the content being discussed.

Utterly uninterested, she turned her head to look around. The fog-shrouded temple was majestic and mysterious, with the surrounding space seeming to extend infinitely, yet remaining indistinct.

Angel shifted her gaze to the head of the bronze long table. The master of this space, Mr. "Fool," was lightly tapping the table with his right index finger, his invisible gaze seemingly fixed on her.

She suddenly realized with a start: had this being discovered her attempt to secretly view the potion formula?