"The remaining five authorities of the Life Lineage… The Witch of Flowers is in the Garden Kingdom. The Witch of Recovery is attending the Divine Summoning Festival, and the Witch of Healing is probably in the Scholar's Nation. As for the last two—Harvest and Growth—I have no clue."
Hel circled a few areas on the map, then sighed helplessly.
"I feel like I'm putting together a jigsaw puzzle. If only I had information on the Life Witch or the Bounty Witch, I wouldn't have to go through all this trouble."
"Master already knows the whereabouts of half the witches, though. And if everything goes as planned, the Recovery Witch won't even be a problem, meow."
The catgirl Niv leaped onto the table, pointing at two circles drawn on the map, reminding Hel:
"So right now, Master just needs to focus on the Flower Authority and the Healing Authority. But the problem is—the Scholar's Nation and the Garden Kingdom are both too far away. We haven't set up a Soul Network connection in those directions yet. At our current setup speed, it'll take too long to finish the route. So the best option is to do it like with Vivian—use puppet couriers to secretly build the network, meow."
"That'll probably take quite some time, won't it?"
Hel frowned as she listened to Niv's suggestion. She didn't lack time, but she wasn't the type to just sit around waiting idly.
"Normally, it wouldn't take that long," Niv explained.
"Our trade caravans have already extended the Soul Network all the way to the Dessert Kingdom. But near the border of the Scholar's Nation, we ran into… a little problem."
"A little problem?"
Hel raised an eyebrow. Experience told her that Niv's definition of 'little' was usually anything but.
"Yes, just a little one, meow. Ever since the plague broke out across the continent, all the scholars have gathered in the Scholar's Nation to research ways to end it. To protect them, the country has gone into semi-lockdown. Only a handful of noble caravans are allowed through. Everyone else has been turned back, meow."
"Even our caravans can't pass?"
"That's right, meow. Master's title is from the Knight Empire. Normally, the Scholar's Nation might respect that kind of foreign nobility. But right now, things are… special. Unless you're the King of Selphis, they won't let your caravans through easily."
"The King of Selphis, huh? Not impossible."
Hel thought for a moment. After the third princess was imprisoned, the Selphis throne had been inherited by her youngest brother. But in truth, the royal family barely held power anymore—the real control of the kingdom had long been split among the powerful noble houses.
With Hel's current strength, she could easily wipe them all out and seize control of the kingdom in days.
But then she shook her head. Managing one duchy already felt troublesome enough. Running a kingdom would just be asking for pain.
"Forget it. My current title as a duchess is plenty. If I conquer a whole kingdom, I'll draw too much attention. I don't want to stand out to the big players—at least, not yet.
If the Scholar's route doesn't work out, we can always head to the Garden Kingdom through the Knight Empire's territory instead of the Ymir Empire."
"But, Master, won't you need to visit the Scholar's Nation for the Healing Authority?"
"That's true… So, Niv, do you have any suggestions?"
"How about Niv sends a clone to secretly set things up, meow?"
"A covert setup, huh?"
Hel rubbed her chin in thought but soon shook her head.
"Too risky. If your clone gets spotted by a passing powerhouse, that could cause trouble. You said it yourself—there are many foreign scholars gathered there. We'd better have a legitimate identity to move under. So…"
"So what, meow?"
Niv tilted her head curiously, perfectly playing along.
"I've decided to go to the Scholar's Nation myself."
"Master wants to personally go to the Scholar's Nation, meow?"
"That's right."
"Wait—don't tell me you plan to…"
"Yes."
"Join an academic exchange, meow?"
"No. I'm going to enroll as a student."
Hel rubbed Niv's furry head with an exasperated sigh.
"Do I look like the type to parade around? At thirteen years old, attending a gathering of top scholars from the entire continent—I might as well announce my existence to everyone."
"Eheh… I just thought Master wanted to earn a 'child prodigy' title, meow."
Niv stuck out her tongue sheepishly.
"No need for that. And I'm not planning to make a move on the Scholar's Nation anytime soon—at least, not yet. I'm only going there so I can operate my clone more conveniently in the Garden Kingdom.
And besides, we still don't have complete intel on the Healing Witch. We'll need time to investigate her real location.
But the most important reason is…"
Hel paused, her expression turning serious as she looked Niv in the eye.
"When I claimed the Beast Authority, I exposed the Death Witch's location. If the Desire Witch tracks that down, we're in trouble. If she still has the ability to sense other witches' positions, then it's even worse. So for now, I'm keeping a low profile and staying away from the borderlands."
"Ah… so Master's going into hiding for a while, meow?"
"You could say that."
Hel nodded in agreement.
"But before that, there's one more thing I need to take care of first."
Pestis's Bedchamber.
A nun softly knocked on the ornate door. Moments later, it opened slightly, and a silver-haired wolf woman—Niko—peeked out with a gentle smile.
"Lady Niko, someone sent a package to Lady Pestis by carrier falcon."
"A carrier falcon? Was there any mark showing who sent it?"
"No clear signature," the nun replied, shaking her head. But after hesitating for a moment, she added uncertainly,
"However… the falcon itself belonged to the High Priest."
"The High Priest's, huh?"
Hel—disguised as Niko—nodded slightly and accepted the box from the nun's hands.
Just then, Pestis noticed what was happening. She didn't say anything, merely watching as Hel placed the box before her.
"Lady Pestis, this box…"
"Mm. Go ahead and open it."
Pestis nodded calmly and quietly took two steps back.
The subtle retreat made even the ever-cautious Hel feel a twinge of speechless amusement.
Good grief… she'd finally met someone even more paranoid than herself.