Northern Conquest Sea, Navaha. On the remote coastal flats far from the city center of Navaha, a one-sided battle had just come to an end. As the victor, Dorothy was now commanding her corpse marionettes to rapidly clean up the battlefield. She didn’t immediately scavenge Massimo’s corpse. Instead, she had the body stored in the magic box, then directed her corpse marionettes to clear any trace evidence—especially shell casings and bloodstains. Once the scene was roughly tidied up, she had them carry the magic box and retreat swiftly. Although the place was on the outskirts, that didn’t mean it was completely unpopulated. During the fight, the sound of gunfire and muffled explosions had alarmed a few civilians in the distance. Some were even approaching the tidal flats out of curiosity. Fortunately, Dorothy had deployed several bird-type corpse marionettes overhead in advance. With multiple aerial viewpoints, she was able to monitor a wide radius around the area. She clearly saw the directions those curious onlookers were approaching from, and thus guided her corpse marionettes to retreat along paths that would avoid them. Thanks to this, the battlefield was nearly spotless—at least to the casual eye. While it was impossible to remove all traces in such a short time, the nature of the terrain worked in Dorothy’s favor. The incoming tide would soon wash away any lingering evidence. She wasn’t concerned that anything would be discovered. Using the vision provided by her bird marionettes, Dorothy ensured all her corpse marionettes successfully withdrew from the scene without being seen. They mounted corpse horses and took a detour, galloping toward the city of Navaha. Only after confirming that every marionette had safely left did Dorothy herself, resting in a seaside pavilion in the distance, begin her own withdrawal. Wearing a wide-brimmed hat and with her hair neatly tied up, Dorothy set off on foot alongside her guardian corpse marionette, strolling leisurely toward Navaha. The road she walked was a coastal path, sparsely populated with only a few passersby. On one side was a lush grove of trees; on the other, the sea, its waves rhythmically crashing in the distance. As the sea breeze blew past, the rustling of leaves and the ocean’s cadence merged into a soothing melody. For a moment, Dorothy genuinely enjoyed the tranquil ambiance. “Navaha… seems like a quiet little seaside town. Feels like it’d be a nice place to live.” Dorothy mused while taking in the scenery. After walking for some distance, something on the landward side caught her attention—a long wall built of gray bricks, towering unusually high compared to normal courtyard walls. Dorothy’s curiosity was instantly piqued. “That’s a tall wall. Way taller than a normal residential boundary… this doesn’t look like a private residence at all. Is this some kind of special facility?” 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦 With growing interest, she had her guardian corpse marionette turn to look. They saw an iron gate embedded in the wall, and beyond it, a gloomy five-story building with shuttered windows and sealed doors. Hanging from the iron gate was a sign written in Cassatian. Thanks to her self-taught understanding of the language, Dorothy quickly deciphered the words: “Anxica Psychiatric Hospital.” “A mental hospital? No wonder the walls are so tall… it’s to keep the patients contained. Still, building one in a place with such lovely scenery—they must think the environment helps recovery.” Casting one last glance at the hospital, Dorothy didn’t dwell on it. She turned her gaze forward and continued down the road without paying further attention to the building beside her. Before long, she had completely passed the front of the psychiatric hospital. Yet, behind the iron gate, inside one of the shadowy rooms of the five-story structure, a silhouette was pulling aside a sliver of curtain. A single eye peered out—staring in the direction of the battlefield where the fight had just taken place. … After eliminating Massimo, Dorothy swiftly returned to the city of Navaha. The encounter with the Sea Abyss Cult had interrupted her plans to travel to Ivengard, and at the moment she hadn’t yet decided her next course of action. For now, she simply chose to rest and reassess. Navaha was a coastal town, modest and ordinary among the many cities of Cassatia. Despite its seaside location, there wasn’t much maritime traffic. Foreign visitors were rare. But now, the sudden arrival of over 2,700 people from the Radiance Church’s fleet had put tremendous strain on the city’s accommodations. Hotels and inns across Navaha were filling up rapidly. Thankfully, Dorothy had foreseen this. As one of the first to disembark, her top priority had been securing a room before even bothering with Costa and Massimo. After all, those two would no doubt waste a lot of time sniffing around the harbor trying to track everyone’s scent. Dorothy had no reason to rush. She even used the time to carefully select a high-quality inn. Returning from the outskirts, Dorothy first stopped at a hidden spot to reclaim all her corpse marionettes and the magic box. Then, without hurrying, she made her way to the inn she had reserved. Once inside her room with the door securely locked, she began checking her inventory of the spoils. She didn’t take Massimo’s corpse out of the magic box. Instead, she simply controlled the corpse marionettes within the box to conduct a body search. One by one, the recovered items were handed out of the box. Dorothy received them and laid them on the table before her, immediately beginning her inspection. Because Massimo had already clashed with the Church before confronting her, he’d been forced to expend many resources in his escape. As a result, Dorothy’s haul was modest. After a thorough search, she had recovered a few sigils, two Lantern spiritual storage items shaped like gold coins, four small test tube-sized vials of dark blue liquid, a compact device for strapping those vials to the wrist, and a bit of cash. “No Shadow storage items… he must’ve used them all up during that mystical detection fight with the Church. A shame… but at least he had two Lanterns. That saves me the cost of identifying them.” Looking at the two Lantern storage items on the table, Dorothy thought to herself. Then she pulled out a sheet of ritual paper marked with a summoning circle and laid it flat on the table. Placing one of the coin-shaped items onto the array, she began the ritual. As the glow of the item dimmed, Dorothy felt the identification ability settle in. Now, it was time to see what these spoils were really worth. One by one, Dorothy began inspecting the items, first turning her gaze toward the sigils. These weren’t just taken from Massimo—some had been retrieved earlier from Bins as well. Among the sigils, aside from a few common Devouring ones, there were also two Scent-Tracking Sigils recovered from Massimo. It was through these that he had enhanced his sense of smell in an attempt to track down Thief K. In fact, Dorothy’s entire button plan had been conceived precisely because she knew Massimo possessed those sigils. “Scent-Tracking Sigils, huh… These are useful. The last batch I got from Adèle ran out not long after I got them, and I haven’t managed to restock since. Nice to have two more now.” She mused while looking at the sigils in her hand. The ones Adèle had given her had proven extremely useful, and she’d been wanting to replenish her stock ever since—but they were rare. Even Beverly didn’t always have any in supply. Now, at last, she had some again. Next, Dorothy turned to a sigil she had never seen before. Judging by the design, she could tell it belonged to the Chalice path. After using her identification ability, she confirmed its name and general function. Water-Breathing Sigil By consuming Chalice spirituality, grants the user the ability to breathe underwater like a fish. “Water-Breathing Sigil? Underwater breathing? That’s handy. No wonder Massimo claimed that if used properly, even his agents who leapt into the sea could make it back to shore. In the open ocean, this thing really does have its uses.” Dorothy now had three of these in her possession—quite a decent haul. With the sigils done, she picked up one of the small vials from the table. Inside was a dark blue liquid. This item had been discovered hidden in Massimo’s sleeve, fitted into a strange device he wore on his arm. Sealed Water Flask A bottle capable of holding a volume of water far greater than its exterior would suggest. Each flask stores about 30 liters, with the water compressed in a special state, appearing dark blue to the eye. “A Sealed Water Flask? This tiny thing holds 30 liters? That means with these four, I’ve got at least 120 liters of water here… That’s more than one of those big jugs of bottled water.” She stared at the vial in amazement. Then her gaze shifted to the strange device that had been strapped to Massimo’s wrist. After identifying it, Dorothy found that it was designed to work in tandem with the flasks. When attached, the device could rapidly eject the flask’s water on command. That explained how, during their confrontation on the ship’s deck that night, the sudden water arrows fired from Massimo’s sleeves had come about—they’d come straight from these. It was clear now that these Hydromancers used such tools to create favorable terrain on the fly. “So that’s what this stuff is for—quick water access when there’s none around. I guess Hydromancers can conjure water themselves, but it takes spirituality and time. Carrying it ready-made is just more efficient. The Tide Path really is one of those Beyonder branches that’s heavily environment-dependent… kinda like how my abilities rely on weather conditions too.” Turning the bottle in her hand, Dorothy silently gave thanks that she hadn’t confronted Massimo and Costa while still at sea. Just one crippled White Ash Hydromancer had turned the tidal flats into a battlefield. What if both of them were at full power on their home turf—a ship on open water? She didn’t even want to imagine. “Useful for Hydromancers, not so much for me. Still, no harm in keeping them around. Might come in handy someday.” Setting the flask aside, Dorothy moved on to count the cash found on Massimo. Since he’d been traveling internationally, the currencies were mixed. After converting everything to standard pounds, she calculated that there was at least 300 pounds in total. “Three hundred pounds… Not bad, I guess. Still a bit disappointing. I thought a guy who called himself a jewel collector would be carrying something… well, shinier.” With a small sigh, she stored the money back into the magic box, along with the other freshly identified items. But she didn’t put away the ritual paper just yet—there was still one final, and most important, item left to appraise. Reaching into the magic box, Dorothy pulled out a large sapphire with a dull, lusterless surface. This was the treasure Nephthys had stolen days ago—the artifact belonging to the Sea Abyss Cult, the Deep Blue Heart. It was the very item that had driven Costa and Massimo to throw their lives away trying to recover it. Still suppressing its spiritual radiance, Dorothy set the gem onto the ritual array and began the simple identification process. The result came almost instantly. Deep Blue Heart A relic blessed by the divinity of Chalice. Serves as a key component in many ceremonial rituals. When placed alone on a body of water, it draws aquatic life from a vast surrounding area. “Deep Blue Heart… blessed by the divinity of Chalice? So this thing’s been sanctified by one of the Chalice deities or divine entities? No wonder it’s so important…” Gazing at the gem, Dorothy couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. An item carrying divine blessing—no matter the country or cult—was always something to be taken seriously. “A core ritual component… infused with divine grace… No wonder it was such a big deal. Too bad it doesn’t do much on its own outside of ceremony. What, fish bait? I could buy a boat and go fishing with it—guaranteed hauls every time. Shame I’ve got no plans to become a fisherwoman.” As she mulled things over, Dorothy placed the Deep Blue Heart back into the magic box. Though the gem had been stolen to prevent its use in a sacrificial ritual, she now fully considered it part of her personal collection. “Doesn’t have a ton of practical use, but it’s important—and pretty. If the chance comes, I might even be able to sell it for a good price.” She made a mental note while tidying up the table. Once everything was put away, Dorothy began tallying the costs of this operation. Thanks to her recent advancement, controlling the various corpse marionettes hadn’t consumed much spirituality. The low-level electrical currents she channeled through the insect marionettes also took very little. The main drain came from the electric “treatment” she and Nephthys had delivered to Massimo—coordinated and focused. That attack had cost Dorothy 2 points of Stone and 2points of Revelation spirituality. Combined with what she’d used earlier when dealing with Bins and the others on the ship, her remaining spiritual reserves now stood at 5 Chalice, 5 Stone, 5 Shadow, 2 Lantern, 14 Silence, and 7 Revelation. Fortunately, when they boarded the Church’s ship, Vania had helped cover for both her and Nephthys. If not for that, her Shadow spirituality would have been even more depleted. “Tch… starting to run low on spirituality. I’ll need to find a way to replenish soon—especially the ones I use the most, Chalice and Stone. As expected, no matter how much I stockpiled Stone, it drains fast once it becomes part of my main loadout.” “Tomorrow, then. I’ll spend the day wandering around town, see if this place has a profiteer guild outpost. If they do, maybe I can buy a few mystical texts.” As the sky outside the window darkened into twilight, Dorothy made her plans while preparing to rest. She had already set her goals for tomorrow. … At the same time, in a tall building elsewhere in Navaha, a lone figure stood at a window, gazing toward the distant harbor—toward the imposing silhouette of a warship. With a furrowed brow, they murmured in puzzlement. “The Church’s fleet… What are they doing here? Could it be…”