The Sorcerer's Handbook

Harvey bit down on his Catnip cigarette as he spoke, ”But wouldn’t that be a serious problem? If all work-related memories get erased, how are we supposed to gather intelligence in the surface city?”

”I can take on a side role as a memory specialist and restore the ones you delete,” Iger said. ”But just as the intelligence suggests, those Work Enlightenment memories are toxic. They bring absolutely no benefit to the individual, a lesson plenty of people have already learned the hard way. Countless sorcerers have tried to exploit the Work Enlightenment to find a loophole for the Infinite Enlightenment. Still, whether it was the sorcerers themselves or their test subjects, the result was always the same. Their souls collapsed and decayed completely.”

Harvey frowned. ”Decayed? Their souls died of old age?”

”Something like that. Those work-related memories act like poison, accelerating the aging of the soul,” Iger explained. ”Of course, restoring them once or twice isn’t an issue. After all, we’re still young. But...”

Ashe stiffened slightly, turning his gaze toward Pankey, whose face had gone entirely pale.

Despite his current appearance as a graceful, blue-haired youth, Pankey was already over sixty years old. Becoming a sorcerer could strengthen the quality of a soul, but it couldn’t extend its lifespan, just as a strong body could resist illness, but never aging itself.

”We don’t need the whole team just for recon,” Pankey said, pushing himself to his feet. ”I can stay in the underground city and wait for you. On the day of the operation, I’ll join you to infiltrate the palace. You just need to lead the way, and I’ll provide the strongest support possible!”

Iger countered calmly. ”But we don’t need support. We can handle at most one confrontation inside the palace, and that would be against the Tower Guards. Any other fight means failure. Once the alarm is triggered, the palace won’t give us a second chance.”

”He’s right,” Annan looked seriously at the butler who had cared for her for so many years. ”Pankey, you’re no longer of use here.”

The blue-haired butler slowly sank back into his seat. His spirits plummeted so sharply that even the vibrant color about him seemed to fade into a dull gray.

Yet the Purple Moth pressed on ruthlessly. ”Ashe goes without saying. He’s the core of the assassination plan. Iger and Harvey are ranked contenders and rivals for the Divine Wish, so I must keep them close. As for you and Lys... you’ve already become dispensable to this plan.”

Ashe couldn’t help but interject, ”Annan...”

”And there’s more,” Annan continued, cutting him off. ”You suggested sending Lys to Quinna, but that plan is completely unworkable. Do you think Quinna wouldn’t use Lys to threaten Ashe? Or do you believe Vanmura’s white mist couldn’t manipulate Lys into becoming a Six-Emblem?

”For someone who is neither her kin nor someone she holds an interest in, you should know exactly how cold and ruthless Quinna can be. Besides, Ashe and I are tied to the continuation of the Senheiser family. You might send Lys there one moment, and the next we’d be looking at photos of her covered in injuries. The following day, Ashe would be locked away in Quinna’s private chamber.”

”Madam Quinna wouldn’t...” Pankey’s voice faltered, his confidence vanishing as he spoke. ”Then what about Miss Cliose, or Miss Evelyn—”

Annan shook her head. ”Evelyn is a Control Class sorcerer that even Iger can’t fully resist. Cliose is a Red Hat, utterly loyal to the Isa Imperial Family. Lys knows our entire plan. Do you truly want us to fail before we even begin?

”Aside from you, entrusting Lys to anyone else is unsafe for her and for us. If you’re unwilling to take care of her, then the only option left is to let her die.”

Iger’s eyes lit up instantly. Harvey, out of habit, cast a cold, measuring look toward Lys. Ashe immediately pulled Lys behind his back, shouting, ”Miss, I have a contract with Lys!”

”Oh right, Ashe has to protect her,” Annan said, as if the detail had only just crossed her mind. ”Which means we’d have to eliminate both Ashe and Lys together... but Ashe is the core of the plan. Pankey, what do you think we should do?”

Pankey’s voice was nearly a plea. ”Lys and I can stay in the underground city. We can provide support...”

”Since we’ve decided to enter the palace, we never planned on coming back,” the Purple Moth said, her fingers lightly brushing her earring. ”Whether you stay in the underground city or return to Azura makes no real difference. The only difference is that we’d feel more at ease with the latter.”

Annan offered a faint, melancholy smile. ”Think of it as letting me act without any worries. Pankey, let me be selfish one last time.”

It was as if those words carried a spell. The last remaining strength in Pankey’s posture collapsed. He lowered his gaze, utterly defeated, before tilting his head slightly to cast a desperate, hopeful look toward Lys.

Lys was instantly dumbfounded. I was counting on you to persuade Annan, and now you’re counting on me?

While staring into her hand mirror earlier, she had already held countless discussions with her sisters, desperately trying to find a legitimate reason to stay. In the end, they had reached a singular, bitter conclusion, and that was... there wasn’t one.

This was definitely not a whim on Annan’s part. Most likely, from the very day the Happiness Rankings were announced, she had already planned to send Pankey and Lys away, and they had to leave together. In truth, Annan didn’t care all that much about Lys; her real concern was Pankey, who was like a father and an elder brother to her, and the remainder of his life.

Pankey was the greatest obstacle on her path toward death.

Annan understood perfectly well that she was Pankey’s sole pillar of support. If the plan failed and everyone perished, Pankey would surely collapse mentally even if he survived. He might even follow her through hell and into the Virtual World. Therefore, Annan had to give him a new reason to live.

Since he was losing one daughter, she would give him another. Perhaps from the very moment she took Lys in, the Purple Moth had already foreseen this day.

”Pankey can’t become a Gospel worker,” ”there won’t be any battles in the palace,” ”it’s unsafe to leave Lys in someone else’s care,” all of these excuses were trivial. There were a hundred times more reasons to keep Pankey than to send him away. Ultimately, Annan simply wanted him gone, which meant Lys had to go with him. That way, even if Annan truly disappeared, Pankey could find meaning in life again by taking care of Lys, just as he once had for Annan.

And unlike Pankey, Lys had a hundred times more reasons to leave than to remain. In fact, from the very beginning, she had no reason to be part of this dangerous plan to desecrate the Gospel.

Ashe, Annan, Harvey, and Iger had clearly already reached an understanding. Even Ashe agreed that Lys couldn’t stay, to say nothing of the others. Lys even suspected that Ashe had discussed it with Annan long ago. Thinking back, after the assassination plan was set, Ashe’s attitude toward her had indeed grown much gentler.

The tighter Ashe held her now, the more resolute he was in sending her away.

The witch sisters had never expected that the greatest obstacle to their staying would be the very people who cared for them the most. As she so bitterly put it, ”A cage stronger than any tower is love.”

In the past, Pankey had been the tower protecting Annan, and Lys had been the cage binding Ashe. Now, the roles had reversed.

What do we do, what do we do... The key is Ashy. We have to convince him! If we can’t even break free from his embrace, how do we ever hope to convince anyone else?

At that moment, everyone’s Book of Gospel suddenly flew open on its own. They froze, their expressions changing drastically. It had only been three days since the last ranking, and the Woven Festival was already releasing its sixth one! All of this pointed to one conclusion. The weaving was accelerating.

While everyone was still stunned, Lys blurted out, ”Daddy, take me away!”

Before Ashe could even react, he was already pulling Lys out the door. Iger immediately stood up to follow, but a heavy hand pressed down on his shoulder, pinning him in place. It was the necromancer.

Iger snapped. ”Let go.”

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

”Oh?” The fraudster let out a sharp, bitter laugh. ”A necromancer wants to lecture a Mind Class sorcerer on human nature?”

”Even Alice knows that a coffin can only hold two people,” Harvey said softly. ”It isn’t because the box is too small, but because some things are meant to be faced by only two people. Let them settle it themselves.”