The red-clothed beauty observed Ciel's actions and the true attitude when she answered herself.
She said happily as if relieved:
"Ah, that's great! How should I put it, your eyes reveal a feeling that you are more likely to kill the other party than to protect people, and I feel worried when I see it.
But seeing it like this now, I am relieved! I am also her companion, you can rest assured, just think of yourself as boarding a big ship.
Rather, although I am the kind of existence that sinks the ship, don't worry about it! Because even if the ship sinks, it will occasionally sink to the water mansion of the sea god… um… in today's terms, it is the Dragon Palace?"
For the red-clothed woman's exaggerated attitude like an actor.
Ciel just felt very dumbfounded.
If the other party sees through her action of preparing the Black Keys, and can still put on this relaxed and natural appearance…
Then Ciel will have to be more careful.
However, before that.
She didn't seem to feel the other party's hostility, and Ciel wanted to take this opportunity to test the other party's information.
It's best to figure out who the other party is.
The Kuruoka parents' magecraft workshop suddenly opened, and a woman in ancient Chinese-style clothing appeared, and Tsubaki was also dragging a dangerous heavy crossbow.
These two things combined are too suspicious.
"Hehe, you want to ask my identity, right? It's really unfortunate, it will take a lot of time to explain. Moreover, I don't have much time, and I will sink soon. You don't want that disease demon to notice our actions, do you?"
"…"
The woman in red smiled slightly and said.
She saw through Ciel's thoughts hidden beneath her subtle micro-expressions.
"…Who exactly are you?"
"Well, you're a really inquisitive child. It seems I have no choice but to answer you… For now, you can call me Jiao. I'm not a bad person, and like you, I'm also a partner who wants to help Tsubaki."
"…Do you think I'll believe you based on just your words? Besides, it's usually the bad guys who emphasize that they won't do evil."
Ciel crossed her arms and stared at the woman in red.
She is an Executor of the Church.
Her perception and senses are naturally sharper than ordinary people, making it almost impossible for anyone to deceive her.
Even though she sensed a gentle aura from the woman,
she was not misled by it.
"Umm…"
Listening to the conversation between the woman in red and Ciel,
Tsubaki wore a troubled expression.
Although she sensed the opposing stances of the two, she didn't detect a tense atmosphere, which was very subtle.
"Hehe, that's fine too. It's not wrong to suspect that I'm a bad person. After all, I will eventually walk a path that diverges from you humans. In your eyes, I'm probably a bad person…"
The woman in red faced Ciel's questioning.
She didn't show anger, but instead revealed a smile that encompassed everything.
"Let someone who can use that crossbow or someone who is always with Tsubaki hold it. That brat, Zheng, added a lot of things to it in order to kill me~ I would say it's an overabundance of firepower. As someone with faith, you should be able to see that… So, you must never leave Tsubaki's side.
As long as you have that crossbow in hand, within this world, it should be able to lend you a hand in protecting that girl."
Earlier, Ciel was preoccupied with the presence of the red-clothed beauty.
She didn't immediately examine the heavy crossbow that Tsubaki was dragging. Now that she looked at it, it was indeed astonishing.
It emanated a trace of ancient and majestic aura.
It felt solemn and noble.
As if interpreting the creator's imperial heart, the dazzling luster made one's heart tremble.
It felt as if it could shoot down the stars in the sky.
Although it seemed exaggerated,
Ciel had that intuition.
"Ah, oh no, I'm reaching my limit. You can take a closer look at that crossbow later. That way, you'll know… my… Ah, ah, I'm entrusting this to you! This wish to protect Tsubaki—"
The figure of the woman in red became increasingly illusory.
Just like a mirage about to disappear…
Her voice also gradually became smaller as the outline of her body faded, until it disappeared completely.
The beauty who called herself "Jiao" disappeared before their eyes.
She handed the heavy crossbow to Ciel and entrusted her with the task of protecting Tsubaki without explanation.
Of course, even if the red-clothed beauty didn't say it,
Ciel would have done it anyway.
"What on earth is that person…"
Ciel picked up the heavy crossbow with a bewildered expression.
She still didn't understand why the woman in red had appeared.
However, after picking up the heavy crossbow and examining it closely,
she did recall some things.
Since she often had to go on field missions as an Executor of the Church, Ciel was generally well-informed about the distribution of power in the world.
The main components of Western mage organizations are: the Wandering Sea, whose whereabouts are unknown; the Atlas Alchemy Institute, which remains secluded; and the British Mage's Association, symbolizing the last glory of the Age of Gods.
The former two have almost no presence.
They can be excluded from the discussion.
Basically, the Western magical world is dominated by Britain alone, while the situation in the East is much more complex.
Take the Celestial Dynasty as an example. The magecraft of the Celestial Dynasty mainly originates from the Celestial Dynasty itself, with "ideological crests" that are completely different from the Western magecraft foundation, and the Celestial Dynasty exclusively enjoys the foundation of "ideological crests."
Therefore, the magecraft concepts of the Celestial Dynasty and the magecraft concepts of the West are two completely different tracks.
The Celestial Dynasty mainly advocates the sharing of ideological crests, while the Western magical world focuses more on the exploration of self-magecraft knowledge.
If the magecraft foundation of a family is known by people from other families, it may cause endless killings.
Sharing is incomprehensible to the Western magical world.
There are advantages and disadvantages to comparing the two.
In the Celestial Dynasty, there is an organization called the "Spiral Manor."
It is one of the magecraft organizations in the eastern part of the continent, gathering the most users of ideological magecraft, and is the largest organization of magi in the world.
However, in terms of scale, the Clock Tower is still the largest and more widespread.
Ciel now suspects that the woman is related to the Spiral Tower of the Celestial Dynasty.