Chapter 803: First Meeting with the "Manipulator"
As the carriage slowly drove away from the East Balam Veterans Club, Angel was whispering to his butler, Ribark:
"This cooperation with Mr. Sander has been completed. He may have other tasks for me in the near future. Please contact him regularly and maintain a good relationship."
"Yes, Miss Theresa."
Riback, with gray hair and wrinkles around his eyes, wrote this down in his notebook and replied.
It's not that he can't remember these simple things, but he wants to use written notes to express his importance to the task I ordered... Looking at the butler's meticulous movements, Angel pondered secretly and suddenly said:
"Do you know any female generals in the military? At least they should be colonels."
Ribak was stunned and stopped writing. He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said carefully:
"I don't remember that. Whether it's the garrisons across Loen, the troops stationed in Balam, or the navies of various regions, women find it difficult to take on important military roles..."
Glancing furtively at Angel, he added:
"This is not a gender preference, but a military tradition."
This did not surprise Angel.
The army of the Kingdom of Loen, especially the navy and colonial army, is deeply influenced by the faith of the Lord of Storms. Their philosophy is quite traditional, believing that women should not show their faces in public and that the men in the family should take the lead. Conversely, men have the obligation to protect women.
Therefore, whether in the army or navy, women account for less than one percent, and are concentrated in positions such as logistics.
But Sander mentioned a female military leader... Angel pondered for a moment and thought of another possibility:
The other party was a Beyonder in the military, and his Sequence was not low, so he became the head of a certain department.
Judging by Sandor's seriousness, this female military Beyonder should be at least a Sequence 5, possibly even a demigod... Excluding the "sailor" path, which I've never heard of a high-sequence female, it's highly likely she's a "lawyer" or "arbitrator." If it's the latter, at Sequence 4, she'd be able to tell whether those around her are ordinary or Beyonders, which would be very disadvantageous to me...
Thinking of this, Angel smiled to himself.
The fact that she was a Beyonder was probably no longer a secret. Just because Sander, as the military representative, didn't say anything, it didn't mean they didn't know.
The female military leader is going to meet with me soon, and she might be planning to expose my identity in person. The question is, are they going to continue cooperating or use this as a threat... Various possibilities kept emerging in Angel's mind, but he couldn't be sure.
Fortunately, before she returned to Backlund as "Christine Theresa," she had made preparations and arranged for herself an identity as a witch who had escaped from Intis and rebelled against the "Witch Cult." This not only matched her own experience, but was also coincidentally "guessed" by Hvin Rambis, who had connections with the military and the royal family. It could be considered a blessing in disguise.
Unfortunately, compared to me in public, the identity of this female Beyonder is still a mystery. Riback's military rank was not high before he retired, so it would be impossible to ask for this information... Seeing the butler who was a little anxious because he couldn't answer his employer's question, Angel didn't embarrass him anymore. Instead, he closed his eyes and leaned against the soft inner wall of the car, arranging his next steps in his mind.
After several discussions, Angel, Klein, and the others had already formulated a plan to lure out and eliminate Amon's clones: using magical items as bait, relying on Ms. Arianna's "secret" power to isolate the clones from each other, and using Pallez Zoroast within Leonard as the main force to eliminate all of "His" clones in Backlund... The only question was whether Amon's clones, after seeing multiple "Favored by the Night," had become alert and fled the city?
The extraordinary characteristics of the "Iron Knight" and the production cost of 8,000 pounds have been transferred to Ms. "Hermit" by Mr. Fool through "sacrifice". According to her, Angel will be able to get his own new weapon by the end of next week at the latest.
In his most recent correspondence with Triss, Angel warned Sherman to be careful with his acting skills and avoid attracting the attention of the East District's official Beyonders, especially the Nighthawks. Leonard, though usually careless, was capable and well-versed in witches' abilities. If Sherman continued committing crimes, he would likely be found by the "Red Gloves." Capturing her alive would be fine; Angel could leverage his connections within the church to rescue her. If something unexpected happened during the battle...
Thinking of this, a plan that had already been outlined came to Angel's mind.
She planned to integrate the two important forces in her hands, Sherman's East District "Black Claw Gang" and Elaine's "Redhead Girl", so that they could truly belong to the "Queen" of the Tarot Club, the "Golden Queen" above the five seas.
The code name is chosen from the "small cards" of the Tarot deck.
We can bring up this matter in the Fool's Kingdom at the Tarot Meeting next week. I think the other members have their own forces, and we can reach a consensus. There may be opportunities for cooperation in the future... She muttered, turning her gaze to the street outside the window illuminated by the bright sunshine, and silently assigned code names to Sherman and Elaine in her heart.
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"Giving your subordinates a code name, this sounds so... so interesting!"
In the luxurious carriage of Earl Hall's family, "Justice" Audrey covered her mouth with her lace-gloved hands, her eyes full of surprise.
Angel smiled disapprovingly, wondering if he should give Sherman and Elaine a less eye-catching code name.
"I will support your suggestion... It's a pity that I don't have my own men, well, except Susie."
Audrey muttered, looking at the big golden retriever at her feet, who was wagging its tail boredly. The latter felt her gaze and tilted its head to look at her.
It doesn't know about the existence of the Tarot Club yet. Let's change the subject... Muttering to herself, Audrey smiled at her extraordinary pet and said softly:
"Susie, Miss Christine is not an outsider. You can speak in this carriage."
She had already revealed to the Queen and the Hanged Man that she owned an "audience" dog, so she no longer asked Susie to continue pretending to be stupid.
"Audrey, I'll love any nickname you give me, woof."
Susie rubbed her legs affectionately, and spoke standard Loenese from her throat.
Although I already knew this dog was a "psychologist" and could talk, I never thought its pronunciation was better than mine... Is this Miss Justice's winning formula for gathering information at home? Even in the most private conversations, her father and brother wouldn't mind a dog lying under the table, right?
Angel stared in amazement at the big golden retriever speaking human language, and couldn't help but reach out and touch her soft fur.
"Christine, I didn't expect you and Mr. Dantes to be together so soon," Audrey said suddenly, looking at Angel's left hand resting on Susie's head and the dazzling ring, with an inexplicable emotion in her eyes. "I hope to attend your wedding soon. When will it be?"
Subconsciously retracting his left hand, Angel chuckled and replied:
"I haven't decided yet. Maybe I need to finish the things at hand and eliminate some risks first."
Was she referring to the "Angel of Time" Amon's clone in Backlund? Or was she preparing to advance to the next level?
Audrey guessed, feeling both hopeful and confused.
She didn't know whether Miss "Queen" and Mr. "World" came together because of some mission, or whether there was really a relationship between them that was enough to determine their lifelong relationship.
The Tarot Club was established exactly one year ago, and "The World" joined only nine months ago. Did they know each other before joining the Tarot Club?
Audrey was thoughtful when she thought that the first thing "The World" did after joining the Tarot Club was to look for the "Queen".
…
The carriage soon stopped in front of Stephen Hampres's villa. Angel met the furniture merchant, whom he had met once before. The latter bowed gracefully and introduced the other gentleman beside him to the two guests:
"This is Hilbert Alucard. He's a famous jewelry designer in Backlund. He's incredibly talented and has designed numerous pieces of jewelry for the royal family. He's also a frequent visitor to my Psychology Enthusiasts Salon."
Angel looked at the man, who was about forty years old, with a brown complexion and seemed to have some Southern Continent ancestry, and nodded slightly as a greeting.
She had only heard this name from Baron Syndras before, and guessed that he might be related to the Psychological Alchemy Society. Seeing him in this salon, which was almost the headquarters of the Psychological Alchemy Society, confirmed her guess.
Compared to her aloofness, Hilbert was extremely enthusiastic. He glanced at the "Rose Necklace" on Angel's chest, which had almost no design sense and relied solely on the huge ruby to attract attention. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and he said in a teasing tone:
"I initially became interested in psychology to understand my customers' minds so I could better design jewelry that would suit their needs. But ultimately, I realized that simpler, more natural designs, rather than complex ideas, could best enhance the wearer's beauty."
Are you praising my beauty or criticizing my necklace for its lack of design sense... Angel forced a smile and complimented the designer.
Later, under the guidance of Hampres, Angel and Audrey came to the salon in the side hall which had already started, and met several familiar nobles and more unfamiliar faces they had never seen before.
Angel guessed that most of them might just be ordinary psychology enthusiasts, but there must be quite a few members of the "Psychological Alchemy Society" hiding among them. They contacted and cooperated with each other in this natural way, extending their tentacles into various fields, secretly collecting intelligence, and even controlling certain nobles.
While she was thinking, Audrey left the side hall with Stephen Hampres and Hilbert Alucard. A moment later, another maid came here and asked Angel to leave in the name of Hampres and took her to the door of the living room at the back.
Seeing the maid make a gesture of invitation and gently push open the door, Angel had some guesses in his heart, his expression was natural and relaxed, he walked into the room and closed the door.
Before her eyes, the manipulator Hvin Rambis, a member of the Psychological Alchemist Society's jury whom she had seen several times in the magic mirror divination, was sitting quietly on the sofa, welcoming her arrival.
"Good afternoon, Miss Christine Theresa," he stood up gracefully and bowed. "Or should I call you Miss Pleasure Witch?"
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