Witch's Embrace

Hearing this, Hawthorne gritted his teeth in frustration: "That guy… I didn't expect such a thing to happen..."

As he spoke, his thoughts swirled, and the more he considered it, the more Die seemed like a significant threat: "Heidi, tell me, if you and Yuta join forces, do you have confidence in subduing Die?"

He had to begin contemplating the early purification of the Memory Witch.

Die had already come dangerously close to uncovering his most crucial secret, so for his own safety, she needed to be dealt with swiftly!

However, he also understood that Die's power was unpredictable, and moving against her now could lead to failure.

To be cautious, it would be best to wait until after Witch's Night, once he had secured Yuta, and then take action.

Heidi paused, then pondered quietly: "Regarding that matter... I'm not entirely sure about Die's power. At her peak, she might be able to defeat both Yuta and me together."

"But considering the state she's been in over the last few years… Master, if I can successfully get through this Witch's Night, I'm confident that with Yuta's help, we can take her down!"

Upon hearing this, Hawthorne breathed a sigh of relief: "Well, that's good then."

Now, the focus was on ensuring that nothing else complicated occurred in the remaining nine days.

His heart couldn't handle another scare like this!

...

On the other side, after leaving the study, Die slowly moved her tentacle limbs, steadily making her way through the convent's garden.

However, her mind was far from tranquil, with a worried expression on her face as she continued to be deeply concerned about Heidi's current state.

Could she really be relied upon in her condition?

What if, during this Witch's Night, something major happened to her...

She was extremely worried, and just then, a cool voice arose behind her: "Die? You seem troubled. Did something happen?"

Die lifted her head slightly and saw a small, slender figure suddenly appear in front of her.

It was Yuta.

Upon seeing her, Die's eyes lit up: "Yes, my sister. To be honest, I'm very worried about Heidi's current state."

Hearing this, Yuta raised an eyebrow: "Oh? You noticed too? She's recently kept a white-haired human as a pet, but I feel she's giving this pet too much free rein."

Despite her displeasure with Hawthorne, she hesitated and refrained from saying, "She's even done that sort of thing with her pet."

While hesitant to accuse Heidi without concrete evidence, Die also recognized the shame associated with such matters in her worldview. Consequently, she preferred not to expose Heidi's secret and incur the wrath of a powerful witch.

Hearing Yuta's remarks, Die's eyes brightened, "You noticed too? I feel the same way. Heidi is being far too generous with him. She even borrowed money from me to buy him Grimoires, encouraging him to study magic in the study!"

Despite her displeasure with the situation, Die refrained from saying, "She even disclosed that she's a witch to him."

Firstly, she didn't want to completely betray Heidi and provoke another powerful witch; secondly, it was evident that the human was still under Heidi's complete control—he even believed that he had "Purified" Heidi and become her Master.

Ridiculous. Did he think he was some divinely chosen figure of the orderly gods? Purification, Master?

What a foolish and pitiful human.

So, from Die's perspective, the matter wasn't that severe. Sharing the initial details should already resonate with Yuta.

As expected, upon hearing this, Yuta's eyes flared with killing intent: "Truly? Heidi is too indulgent with her pet! To be honest, Die, I've been wanting to kill that human for a while now. Keeping him around is undoubtedly a disaster waiting to happen, but Heidi won't allow it..."

Die's eyes gleamed brighter, feeling pleased. In an instant, her wealth of experience helped her craft her words carefully: "Oh, dear Yuta, I fully agree with your judgment. That person must be killed, or he'll surely become a liability for our convent."

Pausing briefly, she continued, "I support you in taking action against him, but, Yuta, the timing cannot be now."

The killing intent in Yuta's eyes faded, replaced by confusion in her beautiful purple eyes: "Why?"

Die's lips curled slightly as she gently persuaded, "Think about it, Witch's Night is almost upon us. If you act now and kill Heidi's most favored pet, she might bear a grudge, and if impulsively driven by revenge, how will you survive this Witch's Night?"

"Yuta, my dear sister, I understand the safety of everyone is paramount, but you must also consider your own welfare!"

Yuta pondered for a moment, her tone tinged with reluctance, "Then... I should wait until after Witch's Night to act?"

Die nodded repeatedly, "That would be ideal. By then, I'll join you in taking action too."

Pausing, she added, "However, I'm concerned I might lose this memory after Witch's Night. So when the time comes, I need you to find me and help me recover."

Yuta snapped out of her reverie, looked sincerely into Die's black eyes, and nodded earnestly, "Yes, I promise you, I'll do it!"

Hearing this, Die breathed a sigh of relief.

Aside from Selene, the convent's two strongest witches had agreed to help her. This Witch's Night should be in the bag!

...

"The Dark Intelligence Network is trying to smuggle an extremely valuable magical artifact through the port at South Harbor District?"

Leaning against the large floor-to-ceiling window and basking in the warm sunlight beside the coffee table, Gael Portel, an executive of Amazon Fisheries Company, sat with her legs crossed, without any regard for decorum, frowning at the fair-haired, blue-eyed, long-eared male Gold Elf seated across from her, who wore a smile.

Gael Portel was a quintessential Amazon woman, with thick, black-red naturally curly hair, a wild and beautiful face, sun-kissed skin with a radiant brown sheen, and an athletic, striking figure.

She wore only a red leather vest covering her chest and very short blue shorts, as if she never felt cold. Her exposed abdomen and legs showed no excess fat, the lines of her abs and her straight thighs exuding a primal sense of power. It made one intensely desire either to pin down this lioness beneath them or be ridden by her and conquered.

At present, her thick black eyebrows were tightly knitted, and her blue eyes were fixed on the young man opposite her: "Mr. Starsong, why are you bringing this information to me?"

From her understanding, such intelligence from the Zhentarim Guild would typically be leveraged to extort the smugglers into buying the information—effectively sealing the leak.

However, they had come to her with the intel, which implied their negotiations with the Shanasar people had fallen apart.

The male Gold Elf sitting across from her was, in fact, none other than Yagora the female half-orc's employer, a senior agent from the Zhentarim Guild, Daviel Starsong.

With his golden hair and blue eyes, and tight, youthful skin, he appeared quite young. Yet, one cannot gauge an elf's age by appearance alone, and Portel knew this senior Zhentarim Guild agent to be at least two hundred years old.

In response to her question, the Gold Elf maintained his smile and said elegantly, "As you might have seen, the Shanasar people are arrogant and disrespectful, breaking a long-standing rule in the intelligence market. So, after our discussion, we all agreed this intelligence should be in the hands of the true Master of South Harbor District."

His compliment, albeit the fact that Amazon Fisheries Company had yet to truly control the entire South Harbor District, pleased Portel greatly.

Despite this, the battle-hardened female executive had no intention of rashly purchasing the information: "Thank you for your offer, Mr. Starsong, but I'm afraid I must disappoint you."

"Every year, hundreds or even thousands of smuggled goods pass through South Harbor District. We are just a small company and lack the capacity to handle so many issues."

"So, I think you'd better sell this valuable information to the district hall. I'm sure the Security Force will handle it properly."

As a senior executive at Amazon Fisheries Company, Portel's skills extended beyond combat. Negotiation, bargaining, and handling opponents were also her forte.

After all, anyone who lived in South Harbor District for some time knew that the district hall's words were almost meaningless.

Opposite her, the Gold Elf knew she was merely negotiating the price down, so his smile remained unchanged, as if he was confident in his position: "Ms. Portel is right, but what if I told you the person responsible for this smuggling is Kentez?"

Kentez, one of the senior managers of the Dark Intelligence Network, held the position of "Guild Commander." He was the overall leader for the smuggling operation.

This included the cyclops in the warehouse and the bald man beaten by Hawthorne—both were his subordinates.

Upon hearing this name, the Amazon female executive's pupils noticeably contracted: "Him?"

Her chest rose and fell as she processed this; there was a deep-seated enmity between them. But then, she took a deep breath and said calmly, "I must commend you, Mr. Starsong, you've certainly done your homework before coming here."

"However, as a high-level executive of the company, I will not let my personal vendettas affect my work, do you understand?"

The Gold Elf nodded slightly, his smile unchanged: "I understand, ma'am, you are indeed impartial. But what if I told you that the vessel used for this smuggling is actually an Amazon Fisheries Company ship?"

"A mid-level manager within your company is betraying its interests and aiding the Dark Intelligence Network. As an executive, you surely can't just stand by and let this happen, right?"

Hearing this, Portel's eyes brightened.

To be honest, what he just said was hardly significant at all. What company doesn't have managers who are corrupt or act in self-interest?

Even in a small company with only a dozen people, employees might embezzle some petty cash when making purchases.

Not to mention a large company like Amazon Fisheries Company, with thousands of employees. It's quite common for mid-level managers to act selfishly and use company assets for personal gain.

However, officially, such behavior must be curbed and taken seriously!

"In that case, we must enforce strict management!" Suddenly, this Amazon Fisheries Company female executive's expression became serious and righteous. "Internal corruption is a chronic problem that weighs heavily on Her Majesty's mind, and I must take strong action against it!"

But inwardly, she was quietly grateful to him for providing her with an opportunity to leverage company resources to exact her personal revenge.