Currently, a curly blonde-haired woman in her late 60s stood in front of a larger crater and was looking at the surrounding charred trees and plants. She had round amber eyes, a slightly wrinkled oval face, wore a black robe, black boots, and covered her neck with a red scarf.
She was none other than Vivian's Teacher, Louise!
After glancing around, Louise zeroed her gaze on a particular area where the broken trees and branches were appeared and took a step forward.
After a few seconds of walking, she arrived in front of a large tree trunk and frowned as she saw footprints.
Then, she looked around and soon started walking in a particular direction.
While walking, she also noticed blood traces and furrowed her brows.
"She flew away from here?" She tilted her head in confusion and resumed her search.
After finding no more clues in the woods, she walked out of the woods and started walking towards the direction of the City of Iron.
…
Meanwhile, Charles stayed in the underground basement and continued to erase Vivian's memories.
Oswald watched his action for a moment before letting out a deep sigh and moved towards the wooden table. Then, he took out a black cane from his separate space ring, took the notebook from the wooden table, and went towards the underground basement's exit.
After a minute of walking, he walked out of the underground hall and moved to the reception.
Soon, he appeared near the chesterfield sofa and sat on it.
At that moment, a black-haired woman in a maid outfit appeared near the glass table and placed a plate full of sliced fruits.
On the other hand, Oswald casually picked up a slice of an apple, turned his gaze towards the nearby maid, and ordered before taking a bite.
"Go and tell Jessie and Titus to come here."
"Yes, My Lord." The maid responded hurriedly, turned around, and dashed towards the bifurcated staircase.
After some time, she returned with Jessie and a brown-haired young man.
Although Titus gained some muscles in the past three years, he still appeared shorter and was around 170 cm high. His straight hair was cut neat and shortly, and even a beard appeared on his chin area.
He wore an ordinary black shirt, pants, and boots and held a sheathed dagger in his hand.
It was a rare artifact which Jessie spent 54,500 gold coins to purchase in the auction for him!
On the other hand, Jessie braided her long blonde hair and wore a long black gown.
Once they appeared in front of Oswald, both bent their waist a bit and bowed their heads in unison.
"Greetings, Teacher." Their loud voice echoed in the large hall.
On the other hand, Oswald leaned his back against the sofa, took out a black-covered notebook, and placed it beside the fruit plate.
"Take a look at it, lass." He said while shifting his gaze towards Jessie.
Meanwhile, Jessie wore a startled look and immediately picked up the notebook.
Then, she opened the book, flipped the pages while reading the contents, and soon turned serious.
"T-There are s-so many evil cult worshipers among the nobles!" She couldn't hide her shock at all.
The next instant, she realized why her Teacher asked them to come and widened her scarlet eyes.
"Won't it cause a ruckus if I use 'slave' spell on them, Teacher?" She couldn't help but feel anxious inside.
Upon seeing her face, Oswald waved his hand and spoke.
"Don't worry about it. From now on, both of your jobs are to find a way to take complete control over these nobles. You have three months to complete this mission."
"Slave spell… I will not disappoint you, Teacher." Titus also realized his Teacher's plan and agreed.
If the nobles were innocent, he would have firmly refused it.
But once he learned that they had committed many crimes, he agreed without any hesitation.
Meanwhile, Jessie wore a troubled look on her face and soon asked.
"Teacher, what should I do about my regular job? I have to attend tomorrow's VIP meeting and also have to give the materials to Lady Collins. There is also an appointment with Life Church members."
"Hmm? An appointment with Life Church? What is that for?" Her words caused Oswald to raise his eyebrows a little.
"I heard that Archbishop Abel is planning to visit this city tomorrow. I'm planning on asking him to check Lady Destiny's health condition. Rhea has been torturing us during the past two days." A wry smile appeared on her face.
As Oswald heard those words, he fell into a daze for some time and soon shook his head.
"Ask someone else to go and invite him to our mansion. You should focus on completing this mission." He paused for a moment and added in a firm tone.
"This is 100 times more important than other missions."
Meanwhile, Jessie also sensed the seriousness in his tone and hurriedly nodded her head.
"You can go back and start your work." Oswald casually picked up a piece of sliced strawberry and placed it in his mouth.
A juicy, sweet with a slightly sour taste entered his mouth, causing his wrinkled face to pucker up a little.
On the other hand, Jessie nodded her head, took out a silver pocket watch from her space ring, flipped open the outer face, and glanced at it.
'7.30 P.M.'
Then, she wore a dazed look and started to ponder about her next plan.
'I also need to deliver the materials to the auction house by tomorrow morning and ask Lady Collins about the next auction schedule… Then, there is the Day and Night Church's matter. Father Myles said that the fourth batch of class gems would arrive within the next few days. I need to send someone… The person must be good at negotiations.' Her gaze wandered in the hall and soon zeroed on the kitchen room.
At that moment, a woman's scolding voice came from inside and caused her scarlet eyes to widen.
'How did I forget her? Yes, I will ask Miss Ashley's help.'
She adjusted her dress and started walking towards the kitchen room.
"Titus, go and wait for me in the dining hall."
Without waiting for Titus's reply, she appeared near the kitchen room door and walked in.
As she entered the room, a spicy aroma entered her nose, causing her to gulp her saliva subconsciously.
Meanwhile, Ashley also noticed her arrival and hurriedly gave a bow.
"Young Miss, what do you want?" She asked while taking a jar of cooking oil and poured some into the empty iron pan.
As the oil started to heat up, she hurriedly placed the jar on the shelf, took the plate filled with sliced onions, and put them in the iron pan.
Then, she glanced at the nearby young maid, gestured her to do the frying, and started walking towards Jessie.
On the other hand, Jessie leaned her back on the concrete wall, took out a separate space ring, passed it to Ashley, and started to speak.
"Miss Ashley, can you go to the Crescent Crew Auction House tomorrow and pass this space ring to the manager? I have another work to attend."
Upon hearing her words, Ashley thought for a moment and nodded her head.
"That's it?" She asked.
"No. You also have to go to a few places and finish some work for me…." As Jessie started to speak, Ashley listened to her words attentively and soon turned serious.
One by one, Jessie continued to take out some materials, and documents passed them to Ashley and explained her other works.
By the time Jessie finished talking, drops of sweats had appeared on Head Maid's forehead.
"D-Don't worry, Young Miss. I-I will take care of your work." She stuttered.
On the other hand, Jessie became overjoyed by her words and gave her a tight hug before running out of the kitchen room.
"Did she just push all her monthly work on to me?" She couldn't help but show a wry smile on her face.
'Well, it can't be helped.' Shaking her head, she wore the new silver ring in her left hand and started walking towards the magic stove.
At that moment, she sniffed her nose, hurriedly ran towards the pan, and soon widened her round brown eyes.
"IDIOT! Why are you keep frying the onion? Are you planning to make onion chips?" Her sharp voice echoed in the kitchen room, causing the nearby maids to shrink their necks.
In the reception hall of a two-storied building, a 40-years old man with an average look sat on a luxurious couch and was in the middle of reading a book.
He had hooded jade eyes, thin eyebrows, short auburn hair, and a square face. He wore a white-lined rochet, covering it was red-colored cassock and black tippet.
As he finished reading the last paragraph, he casually flipped the page and was about to read but suddenly froze.
At that moment, his jade eyes began to turn into a completely white one, and soon he entered into a dazed state!
He stayed in the same state for a whole minute and soon returned to normal.
The next instant, he stood up from the couch and wore a confused look on his face.
"Crescent Crew...."
...
It was around 11 P.M.
Charles finally stopped erasing Vivian's memories and contacted Louise.
"V-Vivian? Are you okay?" An anxious female voice came from the other side.
Like before, he changed his voice into Vivian's one and spoke with a tired expression.
"I-I'm okay, Teacher. But that woman put some strange curse on me and restricted me from using Rank-4 spells." Charles paused for a moment while letting out a teeth-gritting sound and soon added in an anxious voice.
"I will contact you once I completely healed myself... Don't look for me."
"Where are you staying-?"
Before Louise could finish her sentence, Charles cut off the connection and became gloomy.
"The more I talk to her, the more I make mistakes... I need to speed up." He took a deep breath and once again cast [Fire Seed] spell on Vivian.
He didn't waste for a moment and continued to burn her memories.
Time flew by, and soon it was already morning.
It was around 8 A.M.
At this moment, Ashley walked out of the kitchen room while sending out multiple orders to the servants and soon moved towards her room.
Then, she took a long bath, changed her cloth into a formal one, and started combing her hair.
After that, she wore a pair of leather shoes, walked out of her room, and moved outside.
At that moment, a blonde-haired man parked a four-wheeled carriage at the mansion building's entrance and seemed to be waiting for her arrival.
Once she walked out of the house, she hurriedly opened the carriage door, entered inside, and sat on the leather seat.
Then, she closed the red curtains and spoke.
"Let's go." Her voice contains a trace of tiredness.
The next instant, the coachman whipped the horses and started driving towards the exit.
The carriage soon moved out of the mansion, entered the Rodsley street road, and directly drove towards Merchants' District.
A few minutes later, the four-wheeled carriage entered Auction Street and soon stopped in front of a three-storied building.
"We reached the auction house, Head Maid." The coachman spoke in a loud voice.
Ashley removed the red curtain as she heard coachman's voice, walked out of the carriage, and looked at the eye-symbol engraved entrance door.
She stared at the tall building for a moment, took few steps forward, showed a VIP card towards the nearby silver-armored guard, and soon moved in front of the wooden door.
Then, she gripped the handle, turned it towards the left side, and pushed opened the door before walking in.
She saw many red-suited young girls, a few luxurious clothed nobles, and even two golden-armored men in the reception hall and became surprised a little.
'Holy Knights?' She furrowed her brows and soon started walking towards the manager's room.
Once she arrived in front of it, she knocked it twice and spoke in a loud voice.
"Hello Manager, Young Miss Jessie asked me to hand over a few things to you."
Her pleasant voice instantly attracted everyone's attention. But soon, they turned their heads and started doing their works.
A moment later, loud footsteps came from the other side, and soon the wooden door opened with a clicking sound.
The one who opened the door was a slim woman in a long black suit. She had long silvery hair, a pear-shaped body, and oceanic eyes.
"You are?" Bella sized her up and down and asked in an eerie monotonic voice.
Ashley got started a little but soon replied with a solemn look on her face.
"I'm Ashley, My Lady."
Meanwhile, Bella stiffly nodded her head and invited her in.
With a nod, Ashley walked in and soon saw a simple room with a few chairs and a desk placed at the center.
The next instant, her face froze as she saw a staircase appeared on the opposite side.
'Staircase to the underground basement?' She furrowed her brows.
At that moment, Bella strangely turned her head and spoke in the same monotonous eerie voice.
"Please follow after me to the underground basement, ma'am. A guest of our Crescent Crew Auction house wants to meet you."
Goosebumps appeared all over her body as she cast a wary look at Bella and agreed with a half-hesitant nod.
Then, both of them moved forward, stepped on the rocky staircase, and went downstairs.
Within a few seconds, a bright underground hall appeared in front of their eyes.
Just as Ashley stepped on the last step, her gaze swept past the concrete pillars and soon landed on the person, who leaned his back against a sturdy pillar.
He was a 40-years old looking man and had hooded jade eyes, auburn hair, and appeared average in every aspect. He wore a white-lined rochet, covering it was red-colored cassock and black tippet.
Upon seeing his face, Ashley's heart started to beat faster.
At that moment, the auburn-haired man also turned his head and stared into her brown eyes for three continuous seconds.
Simultaneously, Bella started staggering and fell with a loud thud, causing Ashley to widen her eyes.
Just as she was about to help her, the auburn-haired man suddenly straightened his back, took a step forward, knelt on the ground, and bowed his head.
"This loyal servant greets the Divine One." His voice appeared ethereal and sacred.