Sorcerer’s Handbook

“But isn’t this really bad?”

Harvey, biting on a catnip cigarette, said, “If all jobs delete our memories, how are we supposed to gather intelligence in the ground city?”

“I can double as a Memory Extractor and recover your deleted memories,” Igor said. “But as the Intelligence indicated, these ‘Work Revelation’ memories are harmful. Many have already tested this for us—the sorcerers who tried to exploit the ‘Work Revelation’ to discover an ‘Infinite Revelation’ loophole were numerous, but the outcome for both them and their test subjects was always soul annihilation and complete decay.”

“Decay?” Harvey frowned. “Their souls aged to death?”

“More or less. Those working memories act like poison, accelerating the soul’s aging process,” Igor said. “However, retrieving memories once or twice occasionally won’t be a problem, as we’re still young. But…”

Ashe was slightly startled and then looked at the pale-faced Banjeet.

Don’t be deceived by Banjeet’s appearance as a youthful, charming boy with blue hair. He was actually over sixty now. Becoming a sorcerer might enhance the soul’s quality, but it does not extend its lifespan—just as having a stronger body won’t stop aging, only fight off disease.

“…Not everyone needs to go scouting,” Banjeet stood up and said. “I can stay in the underground city and wait for you all. On the day of the action, I will join you to infiltrate the Royal Palace. You only need to show the way, and I can provide the strongest support!”

“But we don’t need support,” Igor said calmly. “In the Royal Palace, we can only afford one battle at most—that will be against the Tower guards. Any other fights would mean the mission’s failure. Once an alarm is triggered, the Royal Palace won’t give us any further chances.”

“She’s right,” Annan looked seriously at the butler who had taken care of her for so many years. “Banjeet, you’re no longer needed here.”

The blue-haired butler sat down in a daze. His spirits were so low that even the color seemed to drain from his body, turning him gray.

However, the Purple Moth continued, “As for Ashe, he’s the core of the assassination plan. Igor and Harvey are ranked individuals and competitors for the Divine Sovereign’s Wish, so I must keep them close. The only ones dispensable to the plan are you and Lise.”

“Annan…” Ashe couldn’t help but call out.

“And,” Annan paused, “you mentioned sending Lise to Lady Qenna. This plan is completely infeasible—do you think Qenna wouldn’t dare to use Lise to threaten Ashe, or that Vamora’s white mist wouldn’t corrupt Lise into the Six Heraldry?”

“For someone who is neither her clansman nor of interest to her, do you not know how cruel and ruthless Qenna can be? Moreover, both Ashe and I are crucial to the continuation of the Senhaeser Family… Perhaps just as you hand Lise over, we would see photos of her battered and bruised, and Ashe would end up in Qenna’s dark room the very next day.”

“Lady Qenna wouldn’t…” Banjeet said hesitantly, losing confidence in his own words. “Then maybe Miss Cleos or Miss Yvaren—”

Annan shook her head. “Yvaren is a domination sorcerer even Igor can’t fully withstand, and Cleos is a staunch supporter of the Yisuo Royal Family’s Red Hat. Lise knows all our plans. Are you hoping for our failure before it even starts?”

“The only safe option for Lise, both for her and us, is for you to take care of her. If you’re unwilling to, we might have no choice but to let Lise die.”

Igor’s eyes shone brightly, Harvey instinctively examined Lise, and Ashe swiftly pulled Lise behind him, shouting, “Young Lady, Lise and I have a Pact!”

“Oh right, Ashe must protect Lise,” Annan pretended as if she had just remembered. “Which means we must handle Ashe and Lise together, but Ashe is the core of the assassination… Banjeet, what do you suggest?”

Banjeet almost begged, “Lise and I can stay in the underground city and wait to support…”

“We never intended to come back once we decided to enter the Royal Palace,” the Purple Moth adjusted her earring. “Whether you stay in the underground city or return to Azura doesn’t make much of a difference, except that in the latter case, we’d be more at ease.”

“Let’s just consider it a way to put my mind at rest,” Annan said with a smile. “Banjeet, allow me to be selfish one last time.”

It was as if these words were a spell; Banjeet seemed to lose the last bit of his resolve. His gaze fell to the ground as he turned his head slightly, looking to Lise with hopeful eyes.

Lise was dumbfounded—she had been counting on Banjeet to persuade Annan, but now he was relying on her?

Lise had previously conferred with her sisters while looking into her hand mirror, trying to come up with legitimate reasons to stay.

In the end, they concluded: there were none!

This was certainly not a spur-of-the-moment idea from Annan. She had likely been planning to send Banjeet and Lise away together since the day the Happiness Ranking was released. Truth be told, Annan didn’t care much for Lise; she was primarily concerned about the future of Banjeet, who was like a father or an elder brother to her.

Banjeet was the biggest obstacle on her path to death.

Annan knew perfectly well that she was Banjeet’s sole reason for living. If the plan failed and everyone perished, Banjeet would be left mentally devastated, possibly to the point of following her through hell and into the Virtual Realm.

Therefore, Annan had to find a new reason for Banjeet to live.

If Banjeet lost a daughter, she’d give him another.

Perhaps even when adopting Lise, this Purple Moth had already foreseen today.

Excuses like “Banjeet can’t become a Blasphemy Gospel worker,” “There’s no escape from the Royal Palace,” and “Lise isn’t safe in foster care” were trivial. The reasons to keep Banjeet were a hundred times more compelling than to send him away. At the core, Annan simply wanted Banjeet to leave, so Lise had to go as well.

In this way, even if Annan were to be gone, Banjeet would find a new purpose in caring for Lise, just as he had done with Annan.

Unlike Banjeet, however, the reasons for Lise to leave outweighed those for her to stay by a hundredfold. In fact, she never had any good reason to join this dangerous Blasphemy Gospel plan from the start.

“Ashe, Annan, Harvey, and Igor must have discussed this among themselves. Even Ashe agreed that Lise couldn’t stay here, and the others would be even more supportive. Lise even suspected that Ashe had talked it over with Annan long ago—thinking back, Ashe had indeed been much kinder to her ever since the plan to Assassinate the Princess was formulated.

The tighter Ashe held her now, the more determined he was to make her leave.

The Witch sisters hadn’t expected that their greatest adversary in staying here would be the very person who valued them the most.

A prison stronger than the Tower is love.

Previously, it was Banjeet acting as the protective tower for Annan, and Lise serving as Ashe’s emotional prison. But now, the roles had reversed.

“What should we do, what should we do now…”

“The key is Little Ashe, we must convince him!”

“You can’t even break free from his embrace, who can you convince?”

Just then, everyone’s Gospel Book suddenly sprang open. They were momentarily stunned, and then their faces turned pale—the Weaving Festival had released the sixth ranking list in less than three days!

The weaving was accelerating!

Amid their shock, Lise suddenly said, “Dad, take me with you!”

Before Ashe could even process her words, he was already pulling Lise out of the room. Igor immediately stood up to follow, but a necromancer placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

“Let go.”

“Igor, you really don’t understand the human heart.”

“Oh?” The Con Artist laughed in anger. “A necromancer lecturing a mental sorcerer on the human heart?”

Harvey remarked, “Even Alice knows that a single coffin can hold at most two people. It’s not because the coffin isn’t big enough, but because sometimes, only two people are allowed to face each other.”

“Let them resolve it themselves.”