Bunkyo Ward.
Inside a traditional Japanese-style villa.
The witch Echidna, clad in a sleek black dress that accentuated her graceful figure, smiled playfully at Lana, who sat across from her:
"So he actually wants to collaborate with the Hidden Management Department? That Oko Shinomiya is quite an interesting man."
"Just the struggles of the weak," Lana sneered in response. "Compared to that, I'm more concerned about the fuel of faith."
As she spoke, Lana cast a glance at the witch standing behind her, draped in a black cloak—a subordinate specifically tasked with gathering faith.
Echidna, too, seemed equally curious.
Faced with two high-ranking members of the Desire Faction, especially Echidna, a Sin Witch, the cloaked witch Nymph didn't dare be careless. She quickly bowed her head and reported:
"Faith collection is already 80% complete. We estimate just one more night to reach the planned quota. Please rest assured, my ladies."
Hearing Nymph's progress report, Lana sighed with slight amazement:
"The faith in these Eastern countries is absurdly abundant. We've harvested it over and over, yet it keeps sprouting anew."
"Korea was like this, and now Japan is no different."
"At this rate, we might as well gather extra faith reserves."
To Lana's suggestion, Echidna replied nonchalantly:
"That's your call, Lana. No need to consult me."
At this, Lana narrowed her eyes but said nothing more.
As the Witch of Greed, Echidna's non-involvement in this matter was rather fortunate for her.
As long as she successfully completed her plan—rescuing Aya Tokoyogi, the Witch of the Notaria, from the Hidden Management Department and severely wounding its Director—her path to becoming a Demigod would be virtually unimpeded.
In that case, the position of Witch of Greed within the Desire Faction might very well need reassigning.
However, Lana remained somewhat sceptical about Echidna's claimed detachment.
Just as Lana was pondering this, Echidna suddenly smiled towards the living room entrance and called out softly:
"Back already, Emilia?"
Hearing this, Lana immediately turned to see a silver-haired girl in a white casual T-shirt and high-waisted black trousers standing at the doorway, a grey cat perched on her shoulder.
Recognising the newcomer, Lana's eyes narrowed slightly.
One of the Sin Witches of the Desire Faction—Emilia, the Witch of Envy.
In Lana's view, she was nothing more than a talentless hack who'd attained her position through sheer luck and innate ability, completely lacking any ambition.
That such a witch would appear here made Lana suspect Emilia must have some compromising information held by Echidna, forcing her obedience.
And whatever task required deploying one of the Desire Faction's most formidable combatants must be of utmost importance.
So what could it be? Lana's mind buzzed with curiosity.
At that moment, Emilia entered the living room and handed Echidna a transparent glass vial.
Inside, snow-white energy resembling ice crystals was constrained by some force, maintaining its material form without shifting despite the vial's movement.
"The residual magic you wanted collected. It's all here—verify it yourself," Emilia said coldly, though her tone seemed artificially stiff, like a child playing at adulthood.
Receiving the desired item, Echidna smiled warmly and accepted the crystals.
"Thank you, Emilia. Would you care to stay for dinner? I've had the chef prepare all your favourites."
"No need," Emilia replied curtly, already turning to leave.
The cat on her shoulder—Puck—nodded approvingly, as if to say this was precisely how she should treat a woman like Echidna. With the magic collection complete, their debt for Echidna's assistance in gathering the Spirit Liquid was repaid. No further courtesy was required.
Thus, Emilia and Puck made their swift exit.
Watching them depart, Echidna sighed theatrically. "After all the trouble I went to preparing her favourite dishes. Really, that girl has no appreciation for kindness~"
Turning back to Lana, she smiled sweetly. "If only Emilia were more like you, Lana."
Then she could exploit Emilia to death without a second thought!
Seemingly detecting a hint of malice in Echidna's expression, Lana frowned slightly before asking:
"Is that unusual power in the bottle you're holding remnants from the mysterious sorcerer who caused the ice disaster in Bunkyo Ward?"
"Yes, it is." Echidna raised an eyebrow before smiling sweetly. "Would you like to know why I'm collecting these?"
Seeing this, Lana immediately understood Echidna's implication.
This knowledge-obsessed witch loved nothing more than exchanging various pieces of information to satisfy her insatiable curiosity.
Thus, Echidna had established a rule for herself - unknown knowledge could be traded for what she already knew.
In short, it was akin to an intelligence exchange.
Fully aware of Echidna's rule, Lana followed her intuition and chose to purchase this information.
"One borrowing right from the Truth Library."
The Truth Library was an enormous inter-dimensional repository established by all factions of Truth Astronomy, containing all knowledge accumulated by the organisation to date.
It represented the true core lifeline of Truth Astronomy.
Due to its importance, borrowing rights to the Truth Library were granted to only a select few within the organisation itself.
Hearing Lana offer such terms, Echidna licked her lips before replying with a beaming smile:
"As expected of the witch lineage descended from Gorgon. Such resource reserves are truly tantalising."
Unlike Echidna, a witch from another world, Lana was a native-born member of a witch family that had the earliest contact with True Hell.
This very heritage gave Lana the confidence to compete with Echidna for the title of Sin Witch, and was also why Echidna couldn't simply eliminate her despite knowing her ambitions.
Even within chaotic organisations like Truth Astronomy, the influence of background still held considerable weight.
"Since you're willing to pay such a price, I'll tell you."
Echidna revealed an enigmatic smile as she said:
"I've discovered traces of a pureblood demon."
"What did you say?"