The Sorcerer's Handbook

After returning to the inn, Annan shut the window and opened the Book of Gospel. She invoked a Miracle barrier, silencing their voices from the outside world and completely cutting off any potential eavesdroppers.

Once Pankey had prepared jasmine tea for everyone, he spoke up, ”If I take the aerial highway in a hovercar, I can make a round trip from Nabistin to Vanmura in eighteen hours. As long as I tell Madam Quinna that Lys is Mr. Ashe’s favorite child, she will take proper care of her.”

It was clear he had rehearsed these words countless times on the way back. They were well-reasoned and highly persuasive.

Lys had been looking into her hand mirror. Upon hearing this, she raised her head. Just as she was about to speak, Ashe stuffed a piece of chocolate into her mouth and began massaging her shoulders in a steady rhythm. She wanted to lash out, but his appeasing gesture melted her sour mood just like the chocolate dissolving on her tongue.

The blue-haired butler placed a suitcase on the table. ”The Beauty’s Wardrobe is our only spatial artifact. It contains weapons, clothing, food, and emergency transportation, everything we might need to handle unexpected situations. Harvey’s coffin will have to be stored inside it as well.”

”Alice doesn’t necessarily have to sleep in a coffin,” Harvey interjected. ”He can disguise himself as a normal person. In fact, he can even breathe, maintain a body temperature, and speak. If necessary, he can move around with us...”

The butler glanced at him. The necromancer immediately fell silent, biting down on an unlit cigarette as he stared blankly into space.

Pankey went on, ”I know this may sound overly arrogant, but unless you suddenly ascend to the Sacred Realm... and even after you do, I will still be the strongest sorcerer among us. Thanks to this body that never grows, I have managed to stay at my peak.”

”I’ve never doubted that,” Annan said with a light smile, brushing her earring. ”You’ve ranked third on the Two-Winged Ice Arts Ranking for eight consecutive years. When I ran away from home, if it weren’t for you helping me behind the scenes, I would’ve been bullied long ago.”

As if recalling the past, Pankey’s lips curled slightly. ”That wouldn’t have happened. ”You’ve always had a natural knack for leading people. Wherever you went, others were drawn to you. Some wanted to help, while others simply enjoyed being around you. People like Miss Cliose, Miss Sirimoro, and Miss Evelyn... Still, I have to admit, you could be a bit mischievous at times.”

Ashe and the others were stunned. The Gospel Kingdom was known as a highly stable, law-abiding society. If she had caused enough trouble to require Pankey’s intervention even in a place like this, ”mischievous” was hardly the right word.

Annan admitted shamelessly, ”I was a bit reckless when I was younger. But the reason I dared to be so unrestrained was largely because I knew that if anything happened to me, you would definitely come to save me.”

Sitting cross-legged on the bed and swaying gently, the Purple Moth’s eyes narrowed into a smile as she continued, ”Rather than saying I was young, I was more like a kindergarten child, causing trouble every day and relying on my guardians to clean up the mess. Once a person has someone to rely on, they’ll always remain a child waiting to be picked up by an adult.”

Annan lowered her head, her hair obscuring her face so her expression could not be seen. ”But I’m no longer a child... and I can’t go back to being one.”

After saying this, the Purple Moth looked toward the fraudster.

Iger flipped open his Book of Gospel and said, ”Based on the mermaid’s intelligence and what I gathered yesterday, I’ve confirmed that our best, and only, chance to enter the palace is during the Court Banquet on the day the Gospel Rankings are announced. On that day, influential figures and major families from across the Gospel will send representatives, all waiting for the birth of the new Empress. An event of that scale will have ironclad security. But with so many guests gathered in one place, the chaos will also give us our only opening to exploit. In my opinion, this plan is about as reckless as volunteering to become Harvey’s test subject. Still, it’s far more realistic than trying to storm the palace by force.”

”I’ll find a way to ’borrow’ a few guests’ identities that day,” Annan said. ”The Dolan family’s accumulated Gospel Points don’t need to be saved anymore.”

Iger added. ”Even if we manage to enter the palace, there’s still a crucial problem. That banquet celebrates the Gospel Rankings and witnesses the transition of the Empress. In other words, within the few hours from the start to the end of the banquet, the rankings will be announced. We must complete our objective within that tight window, which is assassinating the princess who is about to become the next Empress, right under the palace’s heavy protection. In simpler terms, we’ll only have one chance, and just a few hours to pull it off.”

”That sounds completely insane,” Harvey remarked.

The fraudster spread his hands. ”Exactly. A plan so outrageous that even Harvey finds it absurd... that’s probably the most accurate description. Setting aside what happens if we fail, even if we succeed and the Gospel Ranking truly becomes invalid, will the Divine Lord’s wish pass to you right away, Miss? Will you even get the chance to make it? You only get one wish. Can it really solve everything?”

Annan glanced at Iger. ”If it were you, would you give up after coming this far?”

”No.”

”We grew up in different worlds; we’re different genders, and we have entirely different personalities. Honestly, we have nothing in common save for a few shared tastes. But at our core, we’re the exact same breed. We’re the kind of people who only keep living so we can one day stake our lives as chips on a gambling table.”

Iger replied, ”I’m not that person anymore.”

”Since it’s so dangerous, that’s all the more reason I should stay!” Pankey interjected anxiously. ”Logistics or combat, I can definitely help with both!”

”Before we assassinate the princess, we need to explore the terrain of the surface city as temporary workers. We even need to observe and map out the layout of the palace,” Annan continued, bypassing Pankey’s plea entirely. ”In other words, we’ll be working for the next few days.”

Harvey couldn’t help but groan. ”Working? Don’t tell me I have to haul bricks again?”

”Don’t worry. Not only will you not be hauling bricks, but you won’t even remember doing the work,” Iger said. ”To you, it will feel like you walked into the shift, blinked, and immediately clocked out with your pay in hand.”

Ashe blinked in surprise. ”Is there actually such a good deal?”

Iger noted. ”Didn’t you notice it earlier in the amusement district? Whenever you needed something, the staff nearby would step in to serve you before you even realized it. It’s not just there. Anywhere in the underground city, any worker you encounter can ’preemptively’ fulfill your needs.”

Ashe and the others froze, recalling how little they had actually spoken over the past few days. Whether they were shopping or running errands, hotel staff would materialize to assist them before they could even open their mouths. It had gotten to the point where Ashe hadn’t even had much opportunity to practice using his substitute.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t found it odd. But while complaining about poor service was natural, questioning why service was too good just felt bizarre, so they had let it go. As they had reminded themselves before, they were only passing through the underground city. Its strange lore wasn’t their business.

But now, it seemed they were about to become part of that story themselves.

Iger explained, ”That’s because they remain in a constant state of Enlightenment during working hours.”

Ashe tilted his head, and Lys mirrored the gesture. ”Wait, I thought Enlightenment only lasts five minutes per hour? They can’t possibly be working for just five minutes an hour, right?”

”Personal Enlightenment only lasts five minutes, but Work Enlightenment is a different thing entirely,” Iger said. ”Nabistin’s labor system is unlike anything else in the world. Simply put, once you meet the basic requirements for a job, you sign a contract. During working hours, you stay in a state of Work Enlightenment the entire time. You don’t need to think at all. You just follow raw instinct, completing tasks alongside your coworkers with unbelievable efficiency.”

”I’ve never experienced Enlightenment, so I don’t really get it.”

Iger asked, ”You’ve played games with quest guides, right? Work Enlightenment is like having a prompt pop up every single second, telling you exactly what to do next. The entire world becomes a checklist of highly specific tasks. You don’t need an ounce of initiative. You just turn like a cog in a machine.”

”That actually sounds pretty easy.”

”Not at all,” Iger said grimly. ”You have to surrender your entire being to the job. Work Enlightenment is supposedly an incredibly unpleasant experience. You could even say that while you’re working, you cease to be yourself. You’re just a tool translating the Enlightenment into action.”

Ashe looked astonished. ”Then why would anyone ever agree to it?”

”Because you can delete the memory.”

”What?”

Iger explained, ”As I said, if we take a job here, our experience is no different from a time skip. One moment we’re about to start our shift, the next, it’s already over, and we’re holding our pay. Since Work Enlightenment fully hijacks your consciousness, work experience doesn’t actually exist in Nabistin. The memory of that time is completely useless to the individual. As a result, a brand-new labor model quickly took over the mainstream.

”As long as you wipe your work memories, it feels like you just blink and get paid. This is called the Gospel Labor System. The underground city’s industrial output, entertainment services, and even its public security all rely on this system to thrive, so much so that Nabistin rivals first-tier cities backed by imperial authority.”

The fraudster sighed, his voice laced with genuine admiration. ”What a genius system. That alone proves why Nabistin deserves to be the imperial capital. Look at Vanmura. They use that white mist to trick citizens’ senses, making them mistake physical pleasure for work motivation. Or Montphera, which forces people to work overtime by manipulating their subconscious, essentially using Miracles to grind away their laziness.”

He shook his head. ”Even Vanmura and Montphera, the powerhouses among first-tier cities, can only try to lessen people’s hatred for labor. After all, without poison or brainwashing, who in their right mind would willingly go to work?”

Ashe nodded vigorously, the sentiment resonating deep within his soul. Seeing this, Lys patted his head sympathetically.

The fraudster continued. ”Nabistin flips the script entirely. Everyone here goes to work willingly, eagerly, even. To them, a shift is just a skip in time, followed by a handful of coins. It’s practically getting paid for nothing.”

Even Ashe couldn’t help but feel tempted. He had to admit, this single aspect of Nabistin left Vanmura and Montphera in the dust. Listening to this made him want to just settle down here forever... Blood Moon? What Blood Moon? I don’t know anything like that. Never bring it up again! What if Nabistin heard and got upset?