Chapter 220: Rewards of Joy
After talking with Laura, she learned that Hugh Dilcha had issued a commission at Mr. A's rally, asking Angel to "find himself", and she began to suspect that there was actually a member of the Tarot Club behind this bounty hunter.
Because everyone who knew "Angel Granger", except for a few high-ranking members of the church, already believed that she died in Tingen. After arriving in Backlund, Angel had always appeared as "Erin Watson", and the secret holy emblem she wore could make most divinations ineffective against her.
But there was one important point: she had deposited the £350 debt in Backlund into an anonymous account provided by Miss Justice. If this account was only used by Angel, and Miss Justice had gone to the bank to withdraw money, she would know that the "Queen" of the Tarot Club was still alive.
The Tarot Club members were able to analyze the routes and locations of potions based on her previous information. Even when they first entered the gray fog, the standing Tarot Club members knew each other's height and body shape.
Keywords such as "height", "gender", "potion path" and "Tingen City" can be used to reversely infer that the person looking for Angel is in the Tarot Club.
The only remaining members of the Tarot Club, apart from Mr. Fool and himself, were Mr. Hanged Man and Miss Justice. The former roamed the seas, only occasionally returning to land, while the latter was likely based in Backlund, came from a wealthy family, and could even influence the upper echelons of the kingdom and promote certain reforms.
Given these possibilities, Angel uses language to explore the issue after meeting Miss Audrey.
First, both nobles knew that "Miss Irene" was a Beyonder, proving that Hugh must have mentioned the details of last week's meeting to them, and indirectly explaining the relationship between Hugh and Audrey; secondly, after Angel provided the information about Mr. A's gathering, Audrey expressed that she did not know Mr. A. Unfortunately, the disappointed expression of her friend, Viscount Glint, indicated that he had already attended the gathering and knew that no one there sold the "Pharmacist" formula.
Considering the relationship between the two, it was highly likely that Audrey had also attended Mr. A's gathering. Since she could lie without batting an eyelid and was very interested in the "audience" approach, Angel guessed that she was preparing in advance for revealing her Beyonder identity later.
The most important evidence was still the confirmation through body shape, height and other information after the direct meeting. The moment the noble lady stood up in the study wearing flat shoes and faced Angel sideways, she recognized that the other party was the "Justice" of the Tarot Club.
Unexpectedly, Miss Justice, who spent money lavishly but seemed naive in the Tarot Club, was actually the daughter of Earl Hall, one of Backlund's wealthiest nobles.
This also explains why she is able to influence the kingdom's policies. Her father is a member of the Senate...
Lamenting the horror of the true identity of "Justice", Angel returned to the salon in the main hall. The lively music salon was coming to an end, and many nobles who were still reluctant to leave were inviting each other to arrange their nightlife. She found Sylvia in the crowd. The latter was dismissing the male guests around her with a hint of impatience. When she saw Angel approaching, she used this as an excuse to leave them.
"I thought the Viscount had taken you to some dark room," she joked softly, then raised her voice. "My dear niece, since you are so tired, let's go back first."
…
"I didn't expect you to be able to talk to Miss Audrey, and then you were invited to another room. Let me guess, they must have talked to you alone?"
On the return trip, Sylvia sent the maid to another car again, and she and Angel rode alone in the carriage, and couldn't wait to ask about what happened in the salon.
"Yes, Miss Hugh, whom I met last week, introduced me to Miss Audrey, so she came today to invite me to attend, uh, a mystical salon she and the Viscount founded."
"Mysticism Salon? It's not a gathering for people to exchange ideas on tarot readings, mystical rituals, or something like that, is it?"
"No, it's true occultism. Several members are Beyonders. Audrey and Grallint are also very interested in potions. The former longs for the abilities of the Audience potion, while the latter has spent a lot of time searching for the formula for the Pharmacist potion."
"'Audience'... and 'Pharmacist'..."
Sylvia repeated the formulas for two Sequence 9 potions, her frown indicating that she had no idea either.
"Sure enough, the nobles still love this kind of potion." After a long pause, she shook her head and abruptly changed the subject. "I once tried to lure them with 'Assassin' or 'Hunter' potions, but unfortunately no one was interested."
"Perhaps they don't like it, or perhaps they don't see the need for violence, so they choose potions with more 'mild' extraordinary abilities."
And if those nobles knew about the side effects of "Assassin", I'm afraid not only would they lose interest, they would also cause trouble for you...
Angel complained in his heart, and when he saw that Sylvia had gone off topic, he returned to the topic of the recipe.
"Anyway, I think their need for potions would be a good entry point. I've also promised to help them find an 'audience' and a 'pharmacist'. If successful, it will be of great help to this mission."
"The potion formulas for the 'Audience' path are primarily in the hands of the Psychological Alchemists. They're hidden in the city and hard to find, but I can try to find a way. As for the 'Pharmacist' path, it belongs to a secret school, and I don't have any clues. You can try to buy it at other Beyonder gatherings."
"I'll, uh, reimburse you for the acquisition costs."
Sylvia added, as if worried that Angel wasn't working hard enough.
Then, she clapped her hands as if she remembered something and said, "Oh, I almost forgot about your reward. Since you successfully approached Audrey Hall, I will also fulfill part of the mission reward I promised you."
Angel's heart immediately rose. She still remembered what Sylvia had said at the time: the reward for this mission was a complete "Witch of Pleasure" potion, including the formula and main ingredients.
"'Silk Gland of an Adult Giant Widow Spider', this is one of the main ingredients for 'Joy'. You will come to my mansion in three days to collect it. The remaining ingredient and the complete formula of the potion will be given to you when you make further progress in your mission."
The silk glands of an adult giant widow spider... I seem to have seen this name somewhere before?
Angel pondered this and quickly recalled that someone had purchased this material at Mr. A's gathering.
Were there other witches waiting to be promoted seeking potion ingredients? Were they wild Beyonders, or members of the witch cult who were struggling to obtain the ingredients?
This might also be the reason why Sylvia gave me the ingredients first instead of the recipe. She was worried that I would buy the ingredients myself after obtaining the recipe and would not actively complete the task of approaching Audrey...
After much hesitation, she still did not tell the other party about her discovery.
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Soon, the carriage returned to Baron Langdon's house. Angel remembered her promise from that afternoon and went in to collect 100 pounds of "mission expenses" from the butler she had met yesterday, replenishing her empty wallet. Then, she left the West District as night fell and took the subway back to the Backlund Bridge area.
When she left the subway station, she was surprised to find that the crimson moon above her head had expanded from a half moon to a full moon in just a few seconds!
Many passersby around were also stopping to look up and discuss in low voices, but their expressions and tones did not show panic, but only confusion and curiosity.
This phenomenon of the moon quickly changing from a crescent to a full moon is not uncommon, and it happens several times almost every year. Neither astronomers nor mystics can explain this rapid change in the moon's phases, and can only attribute it to an astronomical wonder.
Of course, in the field of mysticism, this phenomenon is called the "blood moon," and after years of experience, it has been concluded that this time will bring about an outburst of negative emotions among Extraordinary people, and even affect the spiritual world and the underworld, making it easier for Extraordinary people of certain paths to lose control.
Looking at the full blood moon that seemed to have grown several times larger, Angel felt a little palpitated, as if the moonlight through the thick fog was pressing down on him.
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