After pondering for a moment, Violet asked again.
“Since you’ve seen this Summoner, does he have any particularly distinctive physical features?”
“It’s hard to say, my lord. He usually appears cloaked, and even when he had private conversations with Leader Eileen, he wore a special half-face mask. I only know that he has long hair, doesn’t speak much, and his skin is as fair and delicate as a woman’s... Oh! Speaking of skin, there is one thing!”
As if suddenly remembering something, Oliver hurriedly added.
“That man, he has a very strange snake-shaped tattoo on the back of his right hand! It’s green, looks quite frightening, but he usually doesn’t show it casually. I noticed it because I had more contact with him.”
“............?”
Violet frowned, pondering for a moment, then took out a peculiar black-gray token from her backpack and showed it to the man.
“Is the emerald green snake tattoo you saw like this?”
“Huh?”
Carefully taking a few steps forward, Oliver earnestly examined the pattern carved on the palm of the black-haired girl. After a while, he nodded in surprise.
“It really is. Although there are some differences in detail, the overall resemblance is striking! My lord, you... Ahem, it’s nothing...”
Perhaps out of habit to ask where Violet obtained this item, but as soon as Oliver started to speak, he remembered the profound fear Miss Priestess had instilled in him earlier and quickly closed his mouth, afraid to say another word.
“Engraved with [Serpent of the Abyss], but isn’t it unrelated to the Twilight Council? Could it be that this Siel Silvester...”
Without revealing too much of her thoughts to outsiders, Violet simply nodded, her tone slightly softened.
“Continue. What happened next?”
“Well... Later on, one day out of the blue, Leader Eileen found me and said there was a big deal that needed reliable brothers to handle. Our line of business... as you know, it’s... well, I didn’t think much of it at the time until I met with the contact person as per the leader’s instructions, and realized he was actually a trusted aide of the Lord of Demon Suppression City. That’s when I began to suspect something wasn’t right.”
“But, you see, the reason why us brothers have been able to live comfortably in Demon Suppression City for so long is largely due to the fact that the authorities turn a blind eye to our business. If we offend the Lord of Demon Suppression City, it wouldn’t be long before the city guards come knocking on our doors.”
“I had no choice but to follow the leader’s orders and take on the Lord’s commission.”
“The target of that commission was to capture a special cub of the Moon Shadow Clan, one of the three major pillars of the Ten Thousand Demons Mountains. The specifics were unclear to me as I didn’t directly lead the team, but I arranged for over sixty experienced brothers to act together. The itinerary was personally arranged by Leader Eileen. I suspect... that man called the Summoner might have been involved as well.”
This time, it was Miss Lan who suddenly interrupted.
“You’re lying. Don’t think I don’t know. Although the Ghost Thief Group suffered heavy losses in that hunting operation, at least five or more people successfully returned to Demon Suppression City. Otherwise, how could you have brought Princess Novia back to your stronghold? What happened at that time can be easily clarified by questioning the members who returned from the mission. As the actual manager of the Ghost Thief Group, would you turn a blind eye to the inner workings of such an important operation?”
“Huh...?”
Seeing the black-haired girl narrow her eyes again, the man shivered all over, hastily shaking his head and waving his hands as he vehemently defended himself.
“No! No, no, no! my lord, please listen to me! It’s not like that! Among the over sixty brothers at that time, indeed, a few of them successfully brought back the prey to the stronghold! But I was dealing with other matters outside at that time. It was Leader Eileen who received them. When I returned, those brothers were already missing! Given the situation of the organization at the time, how could I dare to ask Eileen about their whereabouts? So...”
“......”
Violet and Lan exchanged a glance in secret, already having an answer in mind.
Eliminate witnesses.
If Oliver spoke the truth from start to finish, then such a scenario could indeed occur. Perhaps Eileen intentionally diverted him to facilitate the disposal of those Ghost Thief Group members who knew certain secrets.
This little girl... She appeared gentle and kind before, but her methods seem rather ruthless?
It seems that no more information can be obtained from Oliver. Although he practically controls most of the Ghost Thief Group, this organization is probably just a convenient pawn for Eileen, or rather, for the Summoner Alchemist, Siel Silvester.
I wonder where they’ve run off to now. If only I had left some tracking device on that little gadget used for reporting...
But given Eileen’s alertness, she probably discarded that magical item long before escaping.
Forget it. If they have the ability, they’ll never show themselves again.
After exchanging some trivial information, Violet left with a few girls, leaving behind Oliver, who seemed to finally breathe a sigh of relief. She headed outwards.
She had managed to gather some useful information, though she had originally intended to meet with Lan’s father, Taylor Tulls, the former lord who was also imprisoned in Demon Suppression City’s prison.
However, judging from the information provided by Oliver, he probably didn’t know much either, otherwise Lan wouldn’t be so clueless.
Tomorrow is the scheduled negotiation date with the Ten Thousand Demons Mountains. Just in case, she decided to go to the Lord’s Mansion to see if Menna had returned and to share some valuable information she had gathered with her.
This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.
Although it seemed a bit unnecessary for the young princess, who was also the Revealer, Violet indeed had another matter to discuss with her and Lan, who acted as the acting lord.
Walking back towards the Lord’s Mansion, with a sword in her arms, Lan, who had been rather silent, couldn’t resist her curiosity anymore and suddenly turned around.
“Violet, how did you actually make Oliver fall into that convincingly fake death state? I mean, with that amount of bleeding, it’s impossible for any human to survive, right? Was it some kind of illusion or magic interfering with cognition? But I clearly...”
Watching the twin-tailed girl’s confused and puzzled expression as she tried to analyze, Violet couldn’t help but laugh and shake her head.
“It’s not as complicated as you think. I just stabbed him close to death and then immediately healed him. My priest robe isn’t just for show, you know?”
“Just...? No, you’re downplaying it too much. And at that time, Oliver had clearly stopped breathing. What kind of healing magic could...”
While Lan was still trying to get to the bottom of it, the priestess just smiled and didn’t intend to explain further.
Her feeling wasn’t wrong. Oliver had indeed been stabbed to death by Violet, but she had also cast a delayed resurrection spell when she struck.
For a level 110 priestess, this kind of trick was just basic. After all, how could she instill such a genuine fear of death in someone as shrewd as Oliver without them experiencing it for real?
However, the fewer people who knew about Violet’s ability to bring someone back to life, the better.
After all, everyone has someone they hold in high regard to some extent. Once certain circumstances arise, it’s natural to want to bring them back as much as possible.
And the existence of someone who truly masters resurrection magic is rare in this world. Even now, besides herself, Violet only knew of one other person, the Redeemer Saintess of the Holy Empire, whom she had never seen with her own eyes.
The significance it represents is self-evident.