Chapter 238 (1): For Our Hundred-Year Relationship, Let’s Form an Alliance

Senna was Silvia’s master, so Planck’s old friend had to be someone else. And since the lady was his master’s master, Wayne’s heart stopped racing. He crossed her out from his list of first loves.

I wouldn’t, Sister!

He also had to apologize to Planck. Although it was a misunderstanding, he had fallen for the woman while he believed her to be Planck’s lover for a fraction of a second. He blamed the tradition of stealing someone else’s wife created by a certain man surnamed Cao, whose influence continued to haunt future generations[1].

“I’m here to greet you today, and I have an item for identification to give you.”

Senna took out a wooden box with a wave, handing them the two gold rings. The insides of the rings were etched with magical inscriptions, allowing the user to communicate with nature and to confirm a target’s identity.

As Senna explained, the church’s headquarters had access to a divine art that could disguise one’s thoughts into someone else’s, making it difficult for even a loved one to detect the deception. It was a masterful disguise technique.

Although not many knew the divine art, it would be wise to have a countermeasure in place.

The rings would allow the three of them to identify each other through the thoughts stored within. Even if someone maliciously modified their appearance and thoughts, the three of them could immediately recognize the fake.

Wayne nodded. He had fallen for the trick once when Flora pretended to be his master by changing her thoughts. Auston had fallen for it, too, taking his leave after realizing belatedly that she wasn’t his wife.

Veronica took one ring and was about to put it on when Wayne stopped her. He smiled at Senna. “It’s an excellent magical item. Thank you for your reminder, Master Senna. If not for you, we might fall for someone’s deception.”

But how are you going to prove that you’re Master’s master? As you said, thoughts and appearance can be modified.

Sensing Wayne’s wariness, Senna quickly figured out his concern and approved of his caution rather than getting angry. It was the appropriate reaction.

She remembered that Wayne was Silvia’s student. Since she only had one student, Silvia, and Silvia only had Wayne as her student, Wayne was the sole successor of her lineage. She thus took a liking to Wayne. His caution was commendable. In this, he was better than Silvia.

She didn’t know if Silvia had changed, but her student had been dense and stubborn, often recklessly doing something unwise in the heat of the moment. The most foolish thing she had done was getting married. When Senna thought about it...

Huh, this young man resembled the man who had fooled Silvia!

Senna’s gaze turned complicated. She gave Wayne a once-over and said with a frown, “Who is Auston to you?”

“They are father and son,” Veronica answered for him.

“...”

Senna’s expression became noticeably darker, suddenly losing her appreciation for the promising junior.

Wayne nodded. She hated Auston so much that she lost all goodwill for him after learning about his connection to Auston. She had to be Master’s master. They could put on the rings.

Wayne gave Veronica a pointed look. The siblings put on the rings and injected their thoughts.

Wayne saw an all white space inside. Aside from him, two vague figures occupied the space: Veronica and Senna. Both of them looked blurry, and they couldn’t communicate with each other, but they could sense each other.

He manipulated his thoughts to wave at Veronica before greeting Senna similarly, but received no response.

Damn Auston, see what you’ve done!

In Londan, being Auston’s son essentially gave him carte blanche to do anything. He could drive luxury cars and bed famous socialites without paying a silker. Outside of Londan, however, the blank check no longer worked.

He shrugged, deciding against winning Master’s master over by sweet-talking. There was no point in that since Silvia didn’t like Senna. He would adopt the same attitude.

He remembered Silvia warning them not to be fooled by Senna’s gentle appearance. The woman was a typical tyrant who saw the world as a dark forest where it was everyone for themselves. All human interactions were a zero-sum game in which they had to fight for their own interest.

Senna’s dogmatic nature made her a radical person who had to control everything. She looked down on the weak haughtily, and her kind appearance was just that—an appearance. She would show no attention to those she had no use for, Silvia being a good example. As soon as she pulled out of the Holy Maiden selection, Senna cut ties with her and pretended that she didn’t exist.

What a shame for the pretty face to be wasted on such a woman.

Wayne was reminded of Flora. The former Holy Maiden seemed like a softer version of Senna. Filomina, too, shared some similarities with them. If Wayne hadn’t reshaped her, the High Reverend of the Church of Moonlight might not have been any better.

Did power corrupt, or did religion make one blind?

Both might be true.

Wayne once again lamented the terrifying power of desires. He speculated that every single one of the higher-ups of the church’s headquarters had an excellent affinity with fire elements.

It was survival of the fittest. Those with few desires ended up gradually marginalized by the inner circle of power due to their lack of ambition, resulting in the current clique being comprised of those with strong desires.

Wayne’s eyebrow jumped up, remembering the grey impurities filling Filomina’s body, which had been discreetly influencing her thoughts and rationality. That might be the root of the problem.

Faith made one steadfast, but not faith magic; it only dragged its user into the abyss.

Wayne had been thinking silently with a frown, and since her external brain wasn’t talking, Veronica didn’t speak, either. The car was momentarily silent.

Senna took in their dynamic and was pleased with Silvia’s arrangement. Knowing that her dragon-blooded daughter was lacking, she had sent a shrewd strategist to protect her.

Finally, Senna’s immature student had grown up.

She shook her memories and yearnings out of her head. Silvia had grown up too late. Veronica was the important one now.

She slowly said, “The Holy Maiden selection is officially beginning. Candidates recommended by each major district will be randomly arranged to stay in the mansions along the Seinube River. Usually, candidates from two districts will be neighbors, allowing for an alliance to be formed for the sake of advancing through the selection...”

“I won’t be able to meet you in the near future.”

“Veronica, you should listen to Wayne’s advice before you do anything. If he tells you to do something, do it. Don’t act recklessly...”

“Wayne, I’ll entrust Veronica to you. She’s your younger sister...”

“Once you’ve settled down at your residence, I’ll give you a gift so that you can get stronger before entering the next stage.”

Veronica listened to Senna’s long spiel. Once her mother’s master left, she tugged at Wayne’s sleeve and quietly asked the questions she had been wondering about.

“Wayne, is it really right for her to help us so openly? It’s against the rules, isn’t it?”

“What rules?”

“The headquarters prohibits the candidates from receiving support from outside forces. Mother didn’t offer us help.”

“That depends on how you define outside and inside. Headquarters prohibits the districts from offering help, but there’s no rule against someone from headquarters giving their support. There’s a difference.”

Wayne answered Veronica’s questions and clarified the divide between the headquarters and the districts. The headquarters formulated the rules and had the final say on their interpretation, while the districts followed the rules and had to exploit the loopholes.

Veronica sighed quietly. She had had little desire to become the Holy Maiden, and she wanted it even less now.

The darkness surrounding them faded. The driver regained the clarity of his mind and drove along the Seinube riverbank among the fleet of cars, arriving at an estate deep within the forest.

The candidates would be resting here. Candidates from the same district would reside in the same mansion, like the Lando siblings.

Due to the spatial barriers in place, the candidates couldn’t gather in the same space. Once they entered and confirmed their mansion number, they would be randomly assigned candidates from another district as neighbors.

Wayne’s luck was lackluster, so he had Veronica draw the lot and ended up with mansion number four. They moved their suitcases inside.

The mansion was located halfway up the mountain, embraced by dense vegetation that remained thriving and vibrant even in harsh winter. Sunlight poured down on the forest, casting dappled shadows on the ground. The air was permeated with the refreshing scent of grass and wood.

The Seinube River quietly flowed in the distance with gentle breezes rippling its surface. The area was filled with the purest and most serene sounds of nature.

Wayne felt wonderful. He looked at the mansion a few hundred meters away and pondered when he should visit their neighbors. Since they didn’t know each other yet, it would be inappropriate to visit in broad daylight.

Going at night would be better. If the Holy Maiden candidates happened to have just taken a shower, they could quickly get to each other with no clothes separating them.

Perhaps one of their neighbors would become the Holy Maiden!

Veronica felt wonderful for a different reason. She would be alone with Wayne in the mansion, without Vera around to seduce her fiancé. Her good mood made everything seem a little brighter.

But then she suddenly realized that

she

would be

alone

with Wayne. If the pervert suddenly lost control, she would be his primary target.

“Ahem!” Veronica coughed lightly into her fist, warning him. “We are siblings on the record. You should behave yourself and don’t do anything untoward, or I’ll beat you to death.”

“What inappropriate things could I possibly do as your brother? I’ll only care for you, Sister.”

Wayne huffed. Veronica was acting like a typical girl in her first relationship, worried that he wouldn’t make a move, but also worried that he would. Although she looked forward to it, she had to pretend not to care.

If he and Vera were participating in the Holy Maiden selection for the Church of Sun, she would’ve already moved her luggage to her brother’s bedroom.

It had been a day since he last saw Vera, and Wayne already missed her a little. And Kristen, Filomina, Mona...

He missed all of them.

1. Another reference to Cao Cao, who is now constantly memed in China as someone who covets other people’s wives. ☜