"What are you all standing for? Sit down and talk."
Granny Cassandra said to the others that although the old witch's seat was low, as the oldest witch of this era, she was quite respected in the parliament. So Miss Sylvia and Miss Aurora also took their seats, and Tifa and Miss Swift stood behind their respective teachers.
Although there were a lot of things to discuss tonight, Shade couldn't just sit down casually, otherwise the witch corresponding to the seat would sense it. He came to the table, propped up the table with both hands, and exposed himself to the sunlight:
"Good evening, ladies. To make it short, I have recently been active near the city of Randall Valley in the United Kingdom of Carsenrick. Originally, there was no problem, but today during the day I ran into a witch there, at least I think it was a witch. Excuse me, who is that?"
Miss Aurora looked at Miss Sylvia, who nodded:
"Since it is the Randall Valley, then it must be the ninth seat of the council, the Witch of the Earth, 11th level - Vanessa Benannis."
Xia De was not too surprised:
"The head of the Golden Dawn Opera Company, the Baroness Vanessa Benanis who became famous more than ten years ago and is known as the best opera singer of this era?"
This lady's baronship was obtained because of her superb artistic level. Moreover, she is not only the Baron of Carsenrick, but also the Honorary Baron of Delarion.
"Yes, that's her."
Miss Sylvia looked at Shade with some concern:
"What have you been doing in Randall Valley City recently? Have you found the Chosen One again?"
"How can the Chosen One be met so easily?"
Xia De hastily denied:
"I'm going to buy some local herbs and find a relic. Oh, how is it getting along with that witch? What will happen if she sees me?"
He asked the four witches, and this time it was Grandma Cassandra who gave the answer:
"Vanessa is not an easy girl to get along with, and, except for me, she is older than all the girls here..."
In fact, she is only in her thirties, and considering that witches do not age easily, Miss Benannis looks to be the same age as Miss Aurora.
"The older the witch is, the more she will insist on the principle that witches cannot come into contact with men. You can understand this. So, it may not be easy for her to easily accept your existence."
Granny Cassandra said with considerable concern.
The old witch was kind to Shad because of Grace and Helen, but it was obvious that Shad would never encounter such a thing again.
"Bernanis mentioned you at the meeting tonight, but she didn't say your name. She just said that she noticed some bad changes in the Randall Valley and mentioned that someone could purify the land."
Miss Carina also said, and added something that Shade didn't know:
"Ordinary ring sorcerers may not know, but there are many records about that city in the knowledge passed down by the Council. The Randall River Valley is where the ancient goddess Mother Earth left. It is the center of the pulse of the earth in the material world. In the ancient First Age, mortals who believed in the earth gathered there and regarded it as the center of the earth in the mystical sense."
"There is a problem with the land in the Randall Valley, which may cause abnormalities in the entire material world. However, Vanessa also said that this kind of land pollution problem will occur every ten years or so, but this time it appeared in her manor. Benanis herself can sense the abnormality of the land, but there is no way to completely solve it, so she tried to find a solution outside of the church."
Miss Carina continued to speak. She hadn’t seen him for more than half a month, and she missed the young knight standing not far away:
"In short, if you plan to stay in Randall Valley for a long time, you can't avoid Vanessa all the time. My opinion is that you can go meet her, but you have to be prepared."
"We can write her a letter and you can bring it to her. Berenice planned to buy the local Wilde Opera House a few years ago and borrowed 8,000 crowns from me. Even for the sake of this money, she will not do anything to you."
Miss Aurora also said that eight thousand crowns were roughly equivalent to one hundred thousand gold pounds, which was a huge business that outsiders could not imagine.
"I'm also in contact with Miss Benannis. Margaret doesn't have a talent for space, so she's destined not to be my apprentice. I introduced her to Benannis, and I think Margaret might be able to convince her. Speaking of which, Margaret will arrive at the Randall Valley tomorrow, so you'll probably be able to see her soon."
Miss Sylvia also said that she did not follow the princess to the Randall Valley, partly because there were witches there, and partly because the business she invested in had reached a critical stage.
"Then write a letter to at least ensure that Benannis won't fight Shade. If she still has questions, we can meet in the council to resolve them."
Mother-in-law Cassandra made a decision on the matter, and Shade nodded:
"So the Golden Dawn Opera Company is actually..."
"Yes, it is an organization composed of her followers. But it is not just her followers. If I remember correctly, Grandma Cassandra said that you have met Miss Grande today?"
The red-haired Duchess asked, and when Shade nodded, she continued:
"The Golden Dawn was originally the remnant of a cult of an old god who had already departed, and Miss Sirius Grande Lathers was the original owner of the Golden Dawn. Miss Lathers, or Miss Grande as you call her, met Vanessa when the cult was about to disappear completely. With Vanessa's help, she overcame the difficulties and reorganized the cult. Later, Vanessa's followers merged with the old god cult to form a new Golden Dawn. Vanessa served as the leader, and Miss Sirius Lathers was the deputy leader and deputy, and was very trusted by Vanessa."
This is also the reason why Shade did not feel any witch power from that lady. Since she was the leader of the cult of the departed old gods, it was impossible for her to convert to the ancient god Chaos Witch. Therefore, it was possible for Margaret to become the apprentice of Miss Vanessa Benanis, the witch of the earth:
"So, um... Miss Lasers and Miss Benaness... are they in that kind of relationship?"
Shade asked tentatively, but Granny Cassandra shook her head:
"Vanessa is a single and has long said that she prefers to live alone. As for her and Hillis Grande Lathers, their relationship is strong and goes beyond family, love and friendship. It's very complicated, and you're still young and probably don't understand."
Xia De didn't ask any more questions, but he knew there must be many stories behind this:
"So, is the Golden Dawn Opera Troupe considered a group of ring sorcerers under the Witch Council?"
Miss Sylvia nodded:
"Yes, if Sister Defulin's spiritual cult is an ally, then the Golden Dawn is the real affiliated organization. So, you can try to get the favor of Miss Benanis from the direction of the deputy leader, Miss Lasser. I have met Miss Lasser before. She is a lady with a good personality. And because she is only the leader of the Old God Cult and not a witch, she is usually in charge of the external affairs of the opera troupe, so she has no prejudice against men."
Shade could also feel this. When he walked with Miss Hillis Lathers during the day, she did not show any malice or arrogance.
"Anyway, Benanis is now in the Randall Valley, busy acquiring the opera house while trying to test Margaret of Anjou. In addition, she has recently been investigating unusual land pollution and chasing after a sage-level relic that appeared in the opera house. She is busier than any of us."
Miss Aurora made a summary, and the four great witches quickly discussed what to write in the letter to Miss Benannis. However, when Miss Carina started writing the letter, she specifically warned Shad not to open the letter in advance, which aroused Shad's curiosity.
"Since Miss Benannis is at the eleventh ring, does that mean she is very powerful in combat?"
While the witches were writing letters, Shade asked again.
"Why, are you worried that she'll fight with you?"
Miss Aurora said teasingly:
"Of course, an ordinary person like you cannot defeat an eleventh-level witch, but... although it is difficult to specifically describe her combat power, I can guarantee that she is definitely not as strong as Jialina."
"I'm about to hold a ceremony to advance to the twelfth ring. How could she be stronger than me?"
The Duchess took up the question and continued:
"Vanessa is not the kind of ring sorcerer who is good at fighting. Although she is stronger than ordinary ring sorcerers because she has two systems at the same time, she is still a little weaker than normal witches. So even though we are both eleventh rings, her seat is lower than mine. However, she also has her own pride. She is the first witch in the council in nearly four hundred years to master the maze at the eleventh level."
"Maze lock?"
Xia De had systematically studied the theory of maze locks in Professor Garcia's course "Locked Space", so he knew the difficulty of mastering this strange power through normal means... In fact, even with his abnormal means, the difficulty was quite great.
Miss Sylvia, the great witch of the space, nodded, signed her name, stamped her seal on the written letter, and handed it to Grandma Cassandra:
"Maze lock - the golden theater that sings praises to glory. When my teacher was still around, he took me to see this maze lock... It's very strange and beautiful. However, that is not to call the opera character in the maze lock, but to let it become the only protagonist. Speaking of which, if you really fight with her, you can try to show her part of your maze lock. She might stop because of curiosity."
"Instead of showing the puzzle lock, it is better to show charm. Shade's charm in attracting witches is unmatched."
Miss Carina said with a smile. Except for Grandma Cassandra, the five ladies present - even Tifa and Miss Swift - all smiled in tacit understanding.
Although Xia De felt that he was being slandered, he couldn't say much at this time:
"Ms. Carina, have you not finished your work in Saradir County?"
"Why, do you miss me or Tifa?"
She took the letter signed by Miss Aurora and sealed it carefully:
"Things are almost done. I'll probably return to Tobesk early next month. Maybe I can even catch little Ajelina's birthday."
The beautiful golden eyes raised up and looked at Xia De with a somewhat lazy expression:
"Don't forget to greet us then."