Zodreg cast a pseudo-invisibility spell on himself and disappeared from sight. But clear distortion in his occupied space could be vaguely seen when his large body moved.
It was a camouflage spell that made use of bending light.
Nevertheless, shortly after Zodreg took off for the skies with a strong gust of wind, Vaan also didn't linger in the area; he packed up the black cubic magic tool and dragged Dorothy back to Sunpeak Town.
Many witches noticed him when he dragged Dorothy down the streets. But even though the sight displeased most of them, they soon cowered in fear and didn't dare to be busybodies.
If they had learned anything in the past few days, troublemakers would be punished harshly. Thus, they shouldn't intervene and let the local lord's people deal with it.
But if no one from the local lord's faction appeared to punish the insolent man for mistreating the witch, it could only mean the man held an important position.
As such, Despite receiving countless stares with mixed emotions, Vaan made it to the lord's estate without an issue.
By that time, breakfast was almost ready.
Vaan called everyone to the dining table for a meeting over breakfast, as he had important information to share and discuss with them.
It didn't take long for everyone to show up.
"What have you learned from Dorothy, Vaan?" Astoria enquired after glancing unconscious body dumped in one corner of the dining room. "I suppose it's something quite serious?"
"Quite so," Vaan nodded before adding, "You would all be shocked once you hear what I have learned."
"The Kingdom of Verdant Woods is plotting to monopolize the businesses in our kingdom's central region and control the flow of information. For that purpose, they have bribed many witches from our kingdom to work with them."
"Even the Holy Knight Empire is involved," Vaan added.
"What?" Astoria and the others uttered with surprise.
Their kingdom's witches working with the Kingdom of Verdant Woods was one thing, but they didn't expect even the Holy Knight Empire to be involved.
A few moments later, they frowned with doubts and confusion.
"If we also count the Assembly of Silent Night, we can assume at least four parties are interested in the development of the central region…" Solana mentioned with a deep look, then wondered, "But why?"
"Could it be related to the missing part of Furhengir's incident twenty years ago?" Astoria guessed before knitting her brows with a deeper look. "They still haven't given up the search for it?"
"But even if they haven't given up, it doesn't make sense for the Holy Knight Empire to cooperate with the Kingdom of Verdant Woods, not to mention the witches from our own kingdom…"
"Do you have their names, Vaan?" Astoria enquired shortly after.
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"If I'm not wrong, Transcendent Sybil sent Dorothy to our kingdom on purpose, fully expecting her to mess up and get caught for interrogation," Vaan boldly claimed.
"But why the hell would Queen Sybil send someone incompetent like that just to expose their own plan to the kingdom?" Silvaria asked with confusion. "That doesn't make sense."
"That's because Transcendent Sybil never expected anyone to crack the anti-confession spell on Dorothy's mind," Vaan replied.
"Transcendent Sybil was most likely hoping for the anti-confession spell to activate and kill Dorothy during interrogation. That way, Dorothy would fulfill the role Transcendent Sybil had secretly intended for her."
"Is Dorothy someone important outside the seven witch kingdoms, Vaan?" Astoria asked, recalling a conversation they had previously.
"I don't exactly know if she's considered anyone important since she lived in the Kingdom of Verdant Woods. However, her father, Baron Chalfont, is from the Holy Knight Empire," Vaan mentioned.
"Baron Chalfont…?" Astoria recalled the name before nodding with understanding. "I see… I'm getting the picture now. This could indeed become a big problem."
"Why is that? Who is Baron Chalfont, Headmaster Astoria?" Cyrena asked curiously.
"Baron Chalfont is a southern war hero. The reason the Holy Knight Empire can enjoy its current standing is also partly thanks to his contributions during the warring kingdom period," Astoria answered.
"Although he has retired and is no longer active on the southern front to his old wounds, he now guards part of the Holy Knight Empire's northern borders as one of their border lords. His barony lies just south of our kingdom."
"Queen Sybil is trying to instigate a war between Baron Chalfont and our kingdom," Astoria concluded.
"Is there some bad blood between our kingdoms? Why is Queen Sybil plotting against our kingdom when we should be united?" Dahlia frowned before adding, "Also, what kind of storm can a retired baron cause?"
"Don't look down on Baron Chalfont just because he only holds the rank of baron. If it weren't for his loyalty to his lord, Count Eldridge, he would have been conferred the noble rank of a marquess," Astoria mentioned.
"Furthermore, Baron Chalfont has a strong army of battle-hardened soldiers and connections to many powerful lords in the Holy Knight Empire. He could rally up quite a mighty force if he badly desired our kingdom's ruin."
"Of course, that is also under the assumption that Dorothy is a precious daughter to Baron Chalfont. Fortunately, we don't have to worry about that because Dorothy is still alive. So it's safe to say we have avoided the worse possible outcome," Astoria added.
"Still, what does Queen Sybil hope to achieve by trying to instigate this war between us? Don't tell me she's after our land, right?" Aeliana raised her eyebrow in doubt.
"No, that does seem to be the most plausible reason," Vaan inputted his opinion before continuing, "The Kingdom of Verdant Woods is rich in plant-based resources, but they lack mineral deposits of rare metals needed for magic tool productions."
"Thus, if Transcendent Sybil wished to keep up with the development of magic tool technology and doesn't care for the consequences, targeting our mineral-rich land is her most likely choice," Vaan stated.
"This is ridiculous." Silvaria angrily slammed the table with her palm before she barked, "Is Queen Sybil not afraid of sparking a continental war?!"
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