"The scent of Maskelin?" Angulus didn't quite understand Adorl's words, but when the name Maskelin was mentioned, his tone grew noticeably grave.
Under the pallid sunlight, Adorl's fine yet lifeless skin was shrouded in a faint haze of black qi, and beneath his hood, two points of crimson light danced like flames. "The amulet he wears was crafted using Maskelin's distinctive methods. Hmph—he could sense me through the amulet, so why shouldn't I be able to recognize its origin?"
"So, Lord Adorl, when you leaked that secret to Sosa last time, it wasn't for
"Those foolish humans—greed and stubbornness have blinded their minds, and we manipulate them at will." Adorl let out a cold laugh.
Angulus's voice turned vicious. "Maskelin knows too many of our secrets, and he's a powerful diviner and astrologer as well. The items he left behind certainly weren't innocent. If that mage called Lucian Evans is coming to Heideler to receive an award, then should we...?"
He made a gesture of seizing someone by the throat.
"Fool. Have you considered the consequences of acting in Heideler? Do you want to expose the secrets of the Netherworld? Do you want to lay the Netherworld bare before the Magic Council? One Grand Archanist, one legendary mage—we might still handle them. But faced with seven Grand Archanists and eleven legendary mages, what could we possibly use to fight back? Don't forget, our target isn't just the Magic Council!" Adorl berated him in a frigid voice.
"Are we supposed to let someone who could leak our secrets at any moment keep breathing?" Angulus replied indignantly. Though his status was lower than Adorl's, he was still a high-ranking undead—not someone who could be freely insulted.
Adorl turned his head, the crimson points beneath his hood flickering twice. "If he were going to leak them, he would have done so long ago. Once you possess this kind of secret, revealing it is far more dangerous than keeping it—any powerful being who learns the Netherworld's secrets will absolutely silence him permanently. Since the Magic Council hasn't made any move on this front, that means Lucian Evans is a very cautious and intelligent man."
"Even if he intends to reveal it, he'll surely wait until he himself becomes a legendary mage and possesses sufficient means of self-preservation. We still have plenty of time. He won't stop venturing out to explore the world, and he won't have a Grand Archanist watching over him every time like last time."
Seeing that Angulus still wanted to say something, Adorl warned him, "Our most important task right now is to extract 'power' and prepare for the 'Master's' return. Angulus—do not act on your own and disrupt the plan, or you can look forward to being thrown into the Soul Furnace."
"Yes, Lord Adorl." Angulus pulled down his hood and answered with his head bowed.
……
Elemental Will, Alinor branch. First-floor hall of the magic tower.
After bowing, Lucian stepped down from the podium to sustained applause, and behind him came Morris's voice, now somewhat eased from the heartache:
"Next, let us welcome Mr. Larry Clark to the stage."
Larry, wearing his Elemental robes, looked slightly nervous as he emerged from the crowd, heading toward Lucian.
"Congratulations, Mr. Larry." Lucian walked up to him with a smile and offered his congratulations.
Larry fumbled at his yellowish-brown beard at a loss. "Thank you, Evans. Lovely weather today."
Has this fellow talked himself into incoherence from excitement? Lucian stepped aside with amusement, watching Larry make his way to the podium.
"Congratulations—our Elemental Will's pride, the unprecedented three-time Homme Crown laureate." Florenza sidled up with her wine glass, her smile brimming.
Lucian turned both hands over, displaying his rings. "Thank you, Lady Florenza, for your exquisite design."
As Morris described the vital role of Larry's valence and ionization theories in potion-making and alchemical processes, Florenza gradually composed her expression, swirling her wine glass as she spoke. "We've looked into it. Bellac volunteered for rotation duty during those days, citing the need to trade for some time off later. The other senior mages naturally had no objections."
"So it was all arranged by him?" Lucian frowned slightly.
After Lucian returned to Alinor, a thorough investigation into Bellac had begun. Lucian had felt all along that things were too coincidental—how had Bellac been able to pinpoint the exact time Lucian would discover the vase's curse? Could someone else have been helping him?
But according to the Affairs Committee's investigation findings that he'd just heard, Bellac had simply chosen the time when the probability of Lucian discovering the vase's curse was greatest. If it wasn't discovered in the first few days, there was a ninety percent chance it never would be—even if symptoms appeared later and suspicion arose, it would be a lengthy process, giving Bellac ample time to prepare. As for the occasional accidental discoveries that might occur in between, those weren't in Bellac's calculations. No assassination attempt carried a one-hundred-percent guarantee.
Florenza nodded gently, her golden hair swaying with the motion. "Based on what we currently know, no other senior figures have been found involved yet. But there has been significant progress on other fronts. We discovered Loban in Bellac's magic tower, and from his 'memories' as well as other materials left behind by Bellac, we've arrested over a dozen mid- and low-ranking mages. They had all defected to the Church—some because their strength had plateaued or their circumstances were dire, seeking spiritual peace through faith and gradually becoming fanatics, while others were simply after money, materials, and such, looking for better prospects for themselves."
"As long as there is death, suffering, despair, and hardship, religion can never be eradicated entirely. But we cannot compromise with the Church—all religions must remain under our control," Lucian said with considerable feeling.
Florenza blinked, then broke into a peal of laughter, doubling over as her body shook like a flower branch. "Lucian—no, Committee Member Evans, you're sounding more and more like a committee member! Your tone is exactly the same as Chairman
Lucian smiled with slight embarrassment, deftly changing the subject with a joke. "Is that so? Would you believe I'm considering proposing the establishment of a 'Committee for the Care of Mages' Growth and Psychological Well-Being'?"
"The 'Committee for the Care of Mages' Growth and Psychological Well-Being'—ha! That's the prerogative of a committee member!" Florenza, tickled by Lucian's absurd name, took a long while to stop laughing, and by then Larry had already begun his brief acceptance speech.