"How did they go missing?" Lucien calmed himself down and asked.
Thompson flipped through the report in his hands for the final confirmation. The sound of paper rustling came into Lucien's ears. "It was a senior-rank battle sorcerer and two middle-rank sorcerers who were monitoring them. They found that they went to a church on the west side of Renstadt yesterday and never came out again."
"The senior-rank sorcerer thought that it was a normal continuation of Sardes' marginalization of the radical clerics and night watchers. He did not think much of it until today, when he still did not see either Juliana or Minsk. He became suspicious and entered the church as a mouse, but there was no trace of them at all."
This was the Kingdom of Holm, where the number of sorcerers was countless times greater than that of the Church's. That was why Thompson could afford to have senior-rank sorcerers monitor the church.
"Was it possible that they were discovered and took the opportunity to get rid of them?" Lucien thought of another possibility.
Thompson tapped the table softly. "That's a possibility, but it's not very likely, because they have been monitored in such a way in the past few months. They did not show any anomaly, and yesterday was as peaceful as usual."
"What about the other clerics and night watchers who were marginalized by Sardes?" Lucien expanded the range.
Thompson chuckled and said solemnly, "If they had gone missing, I would've reported it to the Highest Council, which would've suggested that something was wrong with Sardes. The plan would've had to be adjusted. It's a pity that only the two of them have been confirmed so far."
Lucien rubbed his eyebrows. "There are still twelve days to go before the operation. Try to find them, but don't attract Sardes' attention."
Thompson was not disgusted by Lucien's suggestion and reminder. The whole Congress of Magic was guessing when he would become a grand arcanist and join the Highest Council. Also, his authority was above that of the Affair Committee, on the same level as Raventi and the other ninth-circle archmages.
"The radicals are rather calm despite their fury. Sardes, as a 'great prophet', is really good at bewitching people." Thompson briefly mentioned. As a member of the Affair Committee, a student of the Lord of Storm, and a senior-rank sorcerer who had passed the test of faith, he knew about the cooperation, but he did not know the specific plan.
Lucien played with the quill in his hands. He did not know what secrets were hidden in the whole thing, but in any case, Minsk and Juliana were the night watchers who hated him the most. Besides "justice", they were also mixed with personal grudges. It was possible that they would resort to any means. Therefore, he asked Thompson to increase the surveillance of Chorre's family.
After the communication ended, Lucien stared at 'Arcana' before him. It had been a long time since he was able to focus his attention. He was rather agitated. The big operation that was about to begin was too stressful for anyone who knew about it. Even though he was good at keeping calm, he still felt extremely depressed when faced with unknown dangers and changes. Of course, more importantly, he was not alone. He did not need to consider anything else. He had a lover, a teacher, students, friends, and family. If the mission failed, the outcome would be terrible.
"Go remind my teacher and tell him about the plan." Lucien knew that Thompson would report it to Fernando, but he still decided to go to the 'Thunder Hell'.
He was about to leave the office when Lucien saw Chelly knocking on the door and coming in. She asked uneasily and gloomily, "Master, do you have a moment?"
"What's up?" Lucien asked peacefully.
Chelly sat on the chair before Lucien's desk timidly and clenched her hands. "Master, I have a lover named Jacques. You should know him, right? You signed a magic contract with him before? "
"I remember. He's coming for the blood power activation potion, right?" Lucien nodded.
Chelly smiled in embarrassment. "He was very talented in the beginning, and it was possible for him to become a Knight on his own. However, after signing the magic contract, his willpower could not be significantly strengthened. After years of hard work, it still did not work out. So, he decided to use the contract and leave himself no way out."
"After using the contract, not only will he have no way out, but he will also have no hope." Lucien had found a lover that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He also sympathized with Chelly's lover.
Her face blushing, Chelly said, "That's why … That's why I want to ask for your help, master. I've saved a lot of arcana points in the past years, and my father has given me a lot of Quintal and materials. Together with the wealth that Jacques accumulated through his arduous missions, I should be able to exchange for the 'Origin of Blood' of senior-rank vampires. However, I don't have the right to do so."
"It's not a big deal. Besides, we've signed a magic contract in the first place. I'll exchange it for you when I come back later." Said Lucien kindly.
Chelly took a long breath in relief. She was gentle and thin-skinned. She had been thinking about it for a while, but she did not dare to ask for it. Now that she had summoned her courage and received a satisfactory answer, she was naturally excited. "Thank you so much, master."
Lucien chuckled. "You've exchanged for the Origin of Blood and are going to complete the ritual on your own? Speaking of which, Jacques is not bad. He knows how to make money by completing mercenary missions instead of relying on you all the time. "
"The ritual is not complicated. I'm sorry to trouble you, master. I'll post a quest in the Task Zone and invite a necromancer or a sorcerer of the school of Transmutation to host it." Chelly put on a warm smile when she mentioned Jacques. "He used to be a rather pompous Knight, but he's much more down-to-earth now."
After following Lucien around, Chelly had met all the distinguished men. She had a new understanding of Jacques. Thankfully, he had changed a lot, and her relationship with him lasted.
Before Lucien said anything, Chelly had already praised and complained about Jacques. "His last mercenary mission was already very dangerous. It was to investigate a cult. He did not activate his blood power and almost got killed in it."
"Cult?" Lucien was quite sensitive about the word.
Chelly nodded. "Although it's called a cult, it's actually closely related to the Saint Truth. It's an organization established by some of the bottom-level clerics of the radicals of Stewart. They seem to worship the Angel King and deviate from the teaching that we can only believe in the Lord."
After years of magic life, she had almost lost her faith, but she was still used to calling him 'Lord'.
Lucien frowned again. "The Angel King …" What was Sardes thinking exactly? Was he planning to cross the Storm Strait and unite the faith of the Church?
Hearing Chelly's explanation, Lucien thought for a moment and said, "As the areas under the control of the Church and the Congress in the new alternate dimension are gradually stabilized, the situation in Holm will certainly become more and more dangerous. You should remind your father to be prepared as soon as possible in case of a total war."
"Yes, my father has been preparing for that since the agreement between the family and the Congress was reached." Chelly did not think too much about it.
After seeing Chelly off, Lucien went to the thirty-third floor of the Allyn magic tower, ready to go to the Thunder Hell through the fixed transmission magic circles, only to discover that his teacher was in his library.
"You're here." Fernando seemed to have known that Lucien would come.
Lucien nodded. "I learned some anomalies from Thompson."
"He told me, but he didn't discover anything for now." Before Fernando was a city map of Renstadt. "The places where the radicals are marginalized, the areas where different nobles live, and the parts of Renstadt's divine power circle are marked on the map."
It was the confidential map that he received from Hathaway.
Lucien walked to his teacher and observed the map, only to discover that Sardes had indeed marginalized the radicals. Starting from the west, the closer to the Radiance Church and the Nekso Palace in the southeast of the city, the fewer the clerics and night watchers of the radicals were. When he reached the area where the nobles and the Radiance Church were located, there were no radicals at all. Even Stone's Knights of the Holy Grail had been moved to the Renstadt Abbey in the northwest of the city, as if they were waiting for the Congress of Magic to take action.
"It feels weird." Lucien looked at the map and said, but he couldn't tell what was weird about it. He couldn't get an answer even with astrology.
Fernando also frowned and said, "It's unsettling if it's too smooth. Lucien, Hull-Chulia will deal with the parishes in the north coastline, Erica will control the Duchy of Calais, Vicente will go to the Kingdom of Colette, and the parish of Brianne that hasn't been roped in by Sardes will be dealt with by Brook in person, with Holt's help. "
Hull-Chulia was the Monarch of Fate and another legendary sorcerer from Cabin of Palmeira who had a deep control over the north. Erica, on the other hand, was' Master of Transformation 'and a historian from the Family of Sorcerers. The Family of Sorcerers was headquartered in the Duchy of Calais and had a lot of connections with the local nobles. Therefore, she was the most suitable candidate for the job. By the same logic, it could be seen that the Immortal Throne was jointly awarded by the Kingdom of Colette and the Hand of Paleness.
The Song of Silver Moon, on the other hand, was headquartered in the Kingdom of Brianne. With Brook in person and Chelsea Holt, 'Scholar of Silver Moon', it shouldn't be a problem.
"We have to drive away the people of the Church and control the parishes as soon as possible so that the nobles of those few countries can't waver anymore. Otherwise, they all have a legendary Knight. Together with the Grand Cardinals, the situation will quickly deteriorate." Lucien said in a low voice.
Fernando nodded. "That's exactly what we need for this plan. Hathaway and I will deal with the parish of Holm head-on, Douglas will control the situation in Allyn, and the other grand arcanists and legendary sorcerers will join the different battlefields as backups. "
"By then, don't stay in Allyn. I'll arrange for you to go to the Nekso Palace in the northeast of the city. It's a place where several forces of the divine power boundary meet and can be opened easily. If the situation becomes unfavorable, you will teleport away with Natasha immediately. Allyn is safe, but it will be the primary target if anything goes wrong. You, on the other hand, are the Secretive, and Natasha has the Sword of Truth. It won't be easy to lock onto you if you move together. You can hide in the depths of the Boundless Ocean. When you become a legendary sorcerer, you will be the tinder for the revival of the Congress. "
"This is the scroll of 'Night Travel' that I asked for from Stanis … He was somehow related to the Dark Congress and got it from a vampire prince. It will help you break the blockade of space anchors and space barriers."
Listening to his teacher's worst-case plan, Lucien suddenly felt that the atmosphere around him was oppressive and frozen.