Lord of Mysteries:The Good Witch

An eerie silence fell over the gray fog space after the group received their task to collect Roselle's diary.

The talkative Hanged Man broke the atmosphere.

"Since there's nothing else to discuss, why don't we exchange information and chat about recent events? Something insignificant to one person might be an important clue for another."

What a great suggestion! Angel inwardly applauded the Hanged Man, as she had been thinking the same thing.

Ever since "crossing over" to this world, Angel had been constantly seeking a way back. Previously, due to Mrs. Sharon's threats and unfamiliarity with her surroundings, she could only react passively to various events. But since joining the Nighthawks, Angel gained access to all sorts of Beyonderevents and mystical knowledge.

If they could share information at the Tarot gatherings, it might provide another source of intel beyond official Nighthawk channels. They might even conduct untraceable "online transactions" like the Hanged Man and Justice exchanging potion formulas!

"I think this should become a regular part of our meetings," said Miss Justice, her curiosity about the mystical world evident.

"Agreed," even the Fool nodded slightly in approval.

"Then let me start," the Hanged Man, who proposed the idea, said thoughtfully. "The great pirate calling himself Admiral Ludwell has recently begun another expedition to explore the eastern reaches of the Sonia Sea."

Who's that? Angel was puzzled. She knew pirate-infested islands dotted the seas beyond the Kingdom of Loen, with black sails stretching from Pritz Harbor to the northern coast of the Balam Empire. They raided ports, intercepted trade routes for plunder and murder, terrorizing merchant ships and overwhelming naval fleets. But she drew a blank on any specific pirate.

"You mean Ludwell of the Seven Pirate Admirals? Captain of the Black Tulip?" Miss Justice seemed to have heard of him.

"Correct," the Hanged Man nodded.

When no one else chimed in and the conversation threatened to stall awkwardly, the "Fool" idly traced the edge of the bronze long table and casually remarked:

"From what I know, the Rose School has lost a notebook belonging to the Antigonus family."

What's that now? This was far from the intelligence exchange Angel had imagined. She felt sweat forming on her brow. As Cole Granger was just a self-taught extraordinary, Angel, who inherited his memories, knew little more about the Beyonderworld than ordinary people. Aside from potion knowledge, she knew even less than Miss Justice who could converse with the Hanged Man.

The Hanged Man across from her seemed to chuckle before saying, "I'm curious how the Church of the Goddess will react to this news."

The Church of the Goddess!

Angel finally heard a familiar term and immediately asked, "Why do you say that? Should the Church have any special reaction?"

"Because this family was wiped out by the Church of the Goddess. Whether it was at the end of the Fourth Epoch or the beginning of the current one, I'm not quite sure," the Hanged Man's answer left much to the imagination.

It was currently 1349 of the Fifth Epoch. The end of the Fourth Epoch was over a thousand years ago. An ancient family exterminated a millennium ago, with connections to the Church of the Goddess—it seemed worth paying attention to matters related to this family. No, wait—with the Rose School and an extinct ancient family involved, it would be best for the uninformed to stay far away from such affairs...

Angel analyzed the information received. Seeing no one else speak up, she said:

"My turn then." She chose her words carefully, aiming to share intelligence without exposing herself. "The 'Witch Sect' has been very active in the Kingdom of Loen recently. A Sequence 6 Beyonderattacked the Nighthawks' stronghold of the Church of the Goddess in Tingen."

"Goodness, Sequence 6! Was anyone able to stop them?" Miss Justice asked anxiously.

Though the Hanged Man didn't speak, his attention was clearly focused on Angel.

Pleased to have successfully stirred everyone's interest, Angel felt smug—finally something they didn't know about.

"Of course they failed. I heard this Beyonderwas surrounded by several Nighthawks and couldn't even escape."

"Praise the Goddess!" Miss Justice exclaimed softly, but realizing this might reveal her faith, she quickly changed the subject. "The Witch Sect? What's that?"

"It's a secret organization that worships the Primordial Demoness. By common definition, it would be considered a cult," Angel answered briefly. This wasn't because she didn't want to say more, but because her memories only contained this much. Although she knew Mrs. Sharon belonged to the Witch Sect and that it was officially classified as a cult, her deeper understanding was limited to their faith—the Primordial Demoness.

As for the sect's composition, guiding principles, or even areas of activity, she had no idea.

"I've heard the upper echelons of this sect are all women. Many suspect it's related to the Primordial Demoness they worship," the Hanged Man slowly added.

I could actually explain that—it's because once you drink the Sequence 7 potion, you can't help but become female... Angel resisted saying this aloud, but still glanced down at her own body—she, or rather Cole Granger who drank the potion, was also a victim of the concoction.

"I'll go last," Miss Justice spoke up, seeing everyone else had shared information.

"Since the kingdom's defeat in the war on Balam's east coast, the king, prime minister, and all officials have felt immense pressure and a urgent desire for change. They believe the current government structure is too chaotic and inefficient. Whenever an election ends and parties change, everyone from top to bottom is replaced, making things a mess and extremely inefficient. This not only led to defeat in the war but also greatly inconvenienced the people."

She paused before continuing.

"Unfortunately, they can't find a good alternative to this system for now."

After hearing Justice's account, Angel quickly grasped the core issue. Though unfamiliar with Loen's political structure, comparing it to Earth's history, the cause of administrative chaos was clearly the lack of a stable corps of civil servants.

"Why not retain the regular staff when parties change?" Angel tried to guide the question in a more specific direction.

"But that's the predetermined benefit for the winning party. Every party change is also a process of redistributing the pie," Miss Justice objected. "Any proposal to change this would never pass."

"Wouldn't it work to keep the civil servants? Let the political appointments be distributed within the party, while the civil servants who need work experience and stability remain neutral."

"Political appointments... civil servants..." Miss Justice's eyes lit up, as if she'd found the crux of the problem.

Angel also began to utilize her memories of modern administrative systems, organizing her thoughts and speaking more fluently.

"Political appointments like various ministers and mayors—these positions handling political work are the winning party's pie. Their posts don't involve specific affairs, so frequent changes won't affect the government's daily operations. For more specific, complex work positions, from senior cabinet secretaries down to county government clerks, the most suitable elites can be selected from the public through examinations, like university entrance exams. Once they pass the exam, they can hold long-term positions unaffected by party changes."

"These exams can be held regularly, gradually filling administrative positions throughout the kingdom, increasing according to the kingdom's expansion and job vacancies. Once a stable corps of officials forms, these cream of the crop from among the people will keep the kingdom running effectively, regardless of which party is elected or who their political superiors are."

Of course, there would be various difficulties in implementation, such as ensuring exam fairness, bureaucratic attitudes resulting from job stability, and gradually redundant, unwieldy government employees, but what did that matter to these armchair politicians?

Surely none of the Tarot members present could actually influence the kingdom's upper echelons and establish this world's civil service system? Angel thought, watching Miss Justice lost in thought.

Perhaps only the mysterious Mr. Fool had such power, but he didn't seem the type to be bothered by mundane affairs.

Roselle's diary, the grudges between the Goddess of Night and ancient families—these were matters for important figures to concern themselves with. He wouldn't even deign to answer such a simple question!

Oh no, I was a step slow in organizing my words, and I didn't expect that someone else would get there first.

Klein the Fool, who was sitting upright in a high-back chair, was staring in amazement at the Queen Angel who had answered Miss Justice's question before him.

He thought that his long experience of surfing the Internet and making speeches could help him answer this question more perfectly, and he could even keenly point out the many loopholes in the Queen's answer just now, but would it be unworthy of his status as a "fool" to interrupt now?

He pursed his lips and remained silent.

————————

"It sounds like a simple but very effective solution!"

Miss Justice chewed over Angel's words carefully, her eyes gradually lighting up. Based on the elite education she received and the political science knowledge she learned from her father and brothers, she could realize the superiority of this method with just a little analysis.

"Thank you, Miss Queen. Your advice has been of great help to me."

Of course, this is the essence of the British Empire's hundreds of years of political experience, and it was learned from the thousands of years of civil service system inheritance of that country in the East...

Angel felt that the gap caused by his poor knowledge of occultism had finally recovered a lot.

But why was Miss Justice so happy, even as happy as when she got the "audience" potion? Judging from her conversation and lively personality, she was about 18 years old, just the right age to go to college. Could this be an assignment from her college teacher?

Angel was thinking about it when he heard the low voice of the Fool.

"Let's end today's party here."

Angel hurriedly stood up, and Justice and the Hanged Man hurriedly followed suit.

The three of them answered in unison: "It is your will."

The next moment, Angel's eyes lit up, and he returned from the huge palace shrouded in gray fog to the sunny study.

She clenched her right hand, and the pen she had secretly held just now disappeared.

"It's still so magical... I can't even bring anything out. Could it be that the space is actually..."

Angel frowned, thinking back to the details of the Tarot meeting just now.