March 4th, Friday.
In the blink of an eye, more than three weeks had passed.
Out at sea, where the waves surged violently, the Blue Avenger tossed like a leaf blown into the air by a wild gale—at times soaring upward, at times plunging down—yet it maintained an astonishing balance, showing not the slightest sign of capsizing.
In the captain's cabin, Alger Wilson floated by the window, gazing at the waves outside that rose like mountains and peaks, the strong winds swirling soundlessly around him.
He did not know how long had passed before he landed, his boots stepping onto the carpet.
Wind-blessed really is a Sequence that can be role-played just from its name. The only issue is that I must occasionally make myself irritable to match the nature of the gale...
That's hardly a problem. I even created an imaginary persona—a hot-tempered pirate hunter—and, together with Gehrman, took down several small to mid-sized pirate groups...
Pity I still haven't gathered the full 7,000 pounds... Fortunately, Miss Magician is willing to hold the materials for me. Alger sighed inwardly without the least sign of delight on his face.
Normally, the most efficient way was to complete church missions, accumulate merit, and exchange it for the corresponding materials. But as a bishop of the Church of the Storm, Alger could not rely on that route. Because of certain secrets, he had to conceal his true strength, trading it for freedom of movement and lighter surveillance, so that once fully prepared, he could go to a certain place and achieve a long-awaited goal.
Still, Wind-blessed is simple to play... Ocean Songster is said to be much trickier... Could it really require constant singing? Alger thought of his "talent" in singing and couldn't help but glance toward the deck.
Even through multiple cabins, he could hear drunken sailors singing boisterously, producing noise that could rival the roar of the storm.
And his own ability to withstand the storm's roar might well be greater than theirs.
Alger frowned slightly without realizing it, then shifted his attention to another matter:
A few weeks ago, an Extraordinary calling himself "Professor" infiltrated the homes of His Excellencies Cattman and Emelius, leaving behind a mystical technique that could cure the aftereffects of the Celestial Sect...
At first, His Excellency Sea King was wary, but after testing it, found that the mystical art's effects were indeed excellent, and thus had it promoted.
However, both the military and the church began investigating this "Professor's" identity.
According to the findings, he first appeared before the Backlund Great Smog... Later, when crossing paths with the "Despair Nightingale," he was "erased" by an angel of the Church of the Evernight...
Putting the clues together, this "Professor" is very likely "The Tower"!
Why would he go to such lengths to help people completely unrelated to him?
Is it part of his acting? Or a ritual requirement?
As his thoughts spun, Alger recalled the task His Excellency Sea King had given him earlier: Defect to Tracy...
But I have no idea where Tracy even is... The only mention was at the last Tarot Gathering, when the Hermit said that Vice Admiral of Ailment seemed to have been in Backlund...
That kind of intel is as good as none!
Fortunately, His Excellency Sea King is reasonable enough not to make things hard for me...
Sighing, Alger felt that at this rate, it wouldn't be long before the title of Pirate Admiral Tracy was stripped away. Having lost her flagship, she was already a pirate admiral in name only.
And there were no shortage of contenders for the title—such as "Lady Dragon Might," who had recently gained a ship and mystical items left behind by Emperor Roselle and shot to fame!
Her personal strength had already been acknowledged by Vice Admiral of the Deep; the only thing she lacked was capable subordinates.
…
In Trier, Soren District, inside the study of the mansion at 22 Saint Martin Street—
Ebner sipped coffee as he sorted through the fruits of the past three weeks:
First, thanks to Helene's strong promotion, the film industry had truly caught fire, becoming an entertainment project beloved by both nobles and commoners, though the quality they enjoyed varied greatly.
And this was not limited to Intis alone—it had spread across Intis, Loen, Feysac, Feynapotter, Lenburg, Segar, Masin, and the entire Northern Continent, quickly becoming a sunrise industry sought after by investors from all walks of life.
In Loen, it was relatively easy to handle—with Princess Vera present, few dared reach out their hands.
But in Intis, even the Surrey family and the Church of the Earth Mother showed signs of being unable to suppress the greed. In the end, Ebner had to bring in the Sauron family's investment through Helene to finally stabilize the situation.
Of course, this was part of Ebner's plan all along—he wanted to use this opportunity to forge ties with the Saurons and bind them to his side.
In Feysac, even "Lady Greed" alone could not cut off all grasping hands. Fortunately, the countess's student was the daughter of Duke of Graycastle, and through her, Ebner drew in investment from the Feysac royal family, the Einhorns, thus securing the theater network nationwide.
As for Feynapotter and Lenburg, with the vast power of the Church of the Earth Mother and the Church of Knowledge behind them, even though Ebner only acted through agents, the backing of the churches was enough to sever greedy claws.
Now, after the early groundwork and warm-up, the film company's first true blockbuster, Roselle Gustav, was about to be released.
The film, with material provided by "Lion" Leon and screenplay by popular author Fors Wall—currently traveling—contained plenty of Roselle's personal "insertions" on the topic of "freedom." It was just waiting for its release to deliver a sudden blow to Prime Minister Delien's push for "press restrictions."
That prime minister clearly had no idea of the influence of cinema as a medium!
Second, over the past three weeks, Ebner had skillfully used the somewhat immature Johnson Fless and the internal strife within the Delien family to drive the two allied families into a state of superficial harmony but internal discord.
Though the upper echelons still trusted each other, the mid- and lower levels were almost at each other's throats...
In this situation, as long as Ebner intensified the contradictions and found a way to put forward a new senior leader, it would be enough to make the two families completely hostile.
The only thing making Ebner uneasy was that despite the chaos in the Delien family, the "ancestor" who held a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact still showed no signs of movement, as if he didn't exist at all.
Third, in recent weeks, Ebner had frequently attended various balls and banquets, and through the Surrey family and the "Prophet" Taylors from the Church of Knowledge, had successfully met core members of some Intis great families, as well as mid- to high-ranking clergy from the Church of Steam.
While these connections were not particularly strong, they were already enough for Ebner's plans—they only needed to serve as "momentum," waving the flag when it came time to topple Delien.
It was worth mentioning that Taylors, after borrowing an Extraordinary item with the Bizarro Sorcerer trait from Ebner, had indeed used it to replace a senior figure in the Secret Order.
After completely losing Zaratul, it wasn't hard for a versatile "Prophet" to achieve this—especially since, according to Taylors, there were other infiltrators among the Secret Order' leadership.
Thus, he easily gained partial control of the organization.
Through Taylors, Ebner could—at some cost—have some members of the Psychological Alchemists work for him, making them excellent scapegoats.
After sorting out the forces he could mobilize and what needed to be done next, Ebner rubbed his temples, then picked up his coffee and took another sip.
At that moment, Closfia's figure appeared on the other side of the desk.
"You just attended a meeting of the Psychological Alchemists' highest council, didn't you? Did something happen?" Ebner asked in surprise, seeing this lady reveal herself voluntarily.
"My true body is still in the 'Garden of Eden.' What you see here is merely a personality projection..." Closfia replied, then quickly added, "Just now, 'Lust' issued a mission, inviting several members of the highest council to help him ambush and capture Loen's royal princess, Vera Augustus, this weekend.
"The reward he's offering is generous enough to tempt a demigod... 'Pride' has already decided to accept.
"I remember you're plotting against the Delien family—perhaps this is an opportunity, so I came to inform you."
This matter had actually been reported to Ebner yesterday by Seyrow, because the Delien family's internal strife had indeed reached a dangerous stage, prompting the prime minister to consider recalling envoy Owen, who was from the same faction, to strengthen their suppressive power and rebuild the balance...
Owen, however, had in mid-February formally proposed marriage to Princess Vera. But as a royal demigod, how could she be easily married off? Thus, King George III had never given a definite reply.
This had long worn down Owen's patience, and now, on the verge of returning home, he decided to take the risk, inviting his fellow "Black Knight" Seyrow to Backlund to assist him.
Owen told Seyrow he had a demigod demoness as an ally, could bring in two to three other demigod friends, and had even secured an angel to block Loen's royal angel—seemingly foolproof.
So, does Owen think that even with "Lust," "Pride," an "Unaging Demoness," and a "Black Knight"—four demigods in total—they still wouldn't be enough to capture Princess Vera?
And thus they must invite one or two members of the Psychological Alchemists' highest council?
Does he rate Princess Vera that highly?
In any case, I was already planning to intervene. Vera has been good to Xio—I can't just let her fall into that pervert Lust's hands.
Ebner's mind turned rapidly, and he quickly refined a plan he had drafted earlier. He then said to Closfia, "Miss Closfia, please join 'Lady Greed' in accepting Lust's invitation."
"Alright." Closfia agreed without the slightest hesitation, then vanished.
After all, she had been sent by the Mother Goddess specifically to assist Ebner.
Once she was gone, Ebner leaned back in his chair and thought:
This way, aside from Lust, only Pride will be the real enemy...
Once I free the 'White Saintess,' including myself, it'll be five against two...
(End of this chapter)