Now, a new problem lay before Syl.
To find a tangible fuse, she had to conduct an on-site investigation in Ibiza.
Currently, the Missionary was wanted by the Church of Generosity and Wisdom and couldn't stay for too long.
The Joker and the Love Saint, who looked almost identical to him, were too conspicuous for the Ivisa District; moreover, some blurry photos of the Joker had appeared in the newspapers, making it inconvenient for him to show his face.
The only actionable card, the Physician, was currently in a strange state.
Having declined the carriage ride, Syl stepped onto the Avenue of Protection. Just as she was preparing to gather some information along the street, she found herself unable to move.
Although Syl intended to head toward the Ivisa District, her body felt a constant sense of resistance, wanting to stop or retreat. Syl could feel that these were the thoughts of the Physician.
"Riots lead to death... Does the physician card not want to see so much sacrifice?" Syl smiled helplessly, thinking to herself, "You really are warm-hearted; the Physician truly is a 'good person' card... it's just that your way of helping people is a bit peculiar."
After learning that her cards might have been real people in other eras, Syl's attitude toward them began to change.
She would treat the cards' demands and resistance as the thoughts of those individuals from other eras, giving them a certain level of respect.
Syl found that after her mindset changed, she seemed more confident in her role-playing and the improvement of her synchronization with the cards.
"Alright, I'll go as the Saintess herself later... Wearing those Gold-rimmed glasses, I won't be so conspicuous, and with the Little golden shield, I don't have to fear danger." Syl thought to herself, seemingly soothing the Physician's emotions.
The Physician seemed to sense Syl's intentions, and the resistance to walking eased slightly.
This gave Syl the strange illusion that she was actually babysitting.
Although the Duke District was quiet, there were many guards and protective arrays. Syl didn't dare to transform directly in the Duke District for fear of being detected by some restriction.
It wasn't until Syl reached the Sule District that she found an alleyway and reverted to her original form.
"Phew... my own body really is the most comfortable..." Syl cracked her neck and hopped in place twice before remembering something. She took off her glasses and wiped them with a clean white cloth.
After doing all this, Syl put the glasses back on. If anyone had accidentally witnessed this scene in the alley, they would find their memory of it blurring because of the glasses, eventually forgetting it altogether.
Syl, wearing the glasses again, let out a long breath and began to walk along the flagstone road toward the Ivisa District.
Along the way, Syl stopped at some shops that were temporarily empty of customers to ask the owners some questions.
Syl wanted to know how these shop owners, who were equivalent to the middle class, viewed the factory exploitation in the Ivisa region.
The vast majority of shop owners gave an "I'm not sure" answer; many didn't even know what the factories in the Ivisa region were going through.
They were only concerned with which family had hired another maid, which neighbor's son had gotten into which university, or how many currency units someone's weekly salary had increased by.
Most people frowned when Syl mentioned the Ivisa region, appearing to have no favorable impression of that dirty and messy area, considering it a place where only "lower-class people" lived.
Of course, Syl conducted all these inquiries while wearing her glasses. When she spoke to them, the shop owners didn't even look her in the eye.
Once Syl left, they even forgot what they had just been doing and went back to their business.
"Even in a world full of the supernatural and the eerie, mortals still use class to create opposition among themselves..." Syl shook her head helplessly as she walked.
Syl didn't want to get involved in any class struggle or anything of the sort; she just wanted to treat this mission entirely as a prerequisite.
Everything she did was to complete the Witch's Gaze mission, so Vivian would stop staring at her all the time—it was creepy.
Syl also had a faint feeling that even if she gained Vivian's appreciation, she might not be able to sever her ties with the witches.
Because Vivian was only the Third Witch... this meant that besides Vivian, there were an unknown number of other witches who might notice her.
Although she might be getting closer to the truth that the system hadn't explicitly told her, Syl had no way to escape it.
Like destiny, the moment Syl obtained the system and was chosen by the Holy Light, she could no longer stay out of it.
"A purple card..." Syl thought of the mission reward and couldn't help but feel a bit expectant.
Usually, in games, white cards and blue cards aren't very important; once you get to purple and above, it's a series of qualitative leaps.
She only hoped the purple card wouldn't be so hard to play and wouldn't lose control so easily. Ideally, it would be a powerful, obedient, and easy-to-control fighter card; having a sufficiently strong fighter card was very important.
Moreover, Syl had discovered that the strength of her cards could hardly be estimated by rank. For example, although the Missionary had now consumed a First-rank potion, Syl felt her strength could rival someone of the second or even third rank.
However, without a reference person of comparable strength, Syl wasn't quite sure about her guess.
Of course, if she could always encounter opponents weaker than herself, that would be even better.
Thinking this, she gradually reached the Ivisa District.
The moment she stepped into Ivisa South District, she felt a gaze.
Normally, when wearing the glasses, Syl couldn't feel any gaze at all, but this time, the sensation of being watched was tangibly coming from her side.
Syl turned her head and saw a woman in her twenties or thirties, of medium height and wearing a deerstalker hat, watching her with her Spiritual Sight active.
"You are..." The woman seemed to recognize Syl. She performed a salute of the Church of Generosity and Wisdom and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to investigate you. I was just assigned here to search for someone, Excellency."
"I wish you success in finding her." Syl smiled, performed a salute of the goddess of hope, and then turned to walk slowly away.
Someone from the Church of Generosity and Wisdom. It looked like they were still searching extensively for the Joker... She could only say it was lucky she hadn't chosen the Joker or the Love Saint to come, or she would have been caught just as she entered the Ivisa District.
Just as Syl was about to leave, she heard footsteps from behind.
"Her Highness Saintess of Hope, may I ask you something?" the Female Investigator's voice came from behind Syl. "With such a blurry photo, and the report not mentioning gender throughout... how did you know it was a'she' and not a 'he'?"