From the very beginning, Side had never actually believed her Holy Son was Loren. Otherwise, he would have helped her kill Askesan back in Bandera City—or rather, if he truly were Loren, there was no way Askesan and the figure in black robes would have walked away alive from that shattered battlefield.
Unfortunately, the exact details of that battle were known only to the few of them who had been there.
In the eyes of Anello, the Holy Son of Extinction, if Loren had indeed been pulling the strings from the shadows, it actually made far more sense that the Bishop of Domination had managed to escape in a two-on-one fight.
One could only say that Askesan could never bring himself to tell Anello that he, a dignified Cardinal, had nearly lost his life to the Holy Son of Domination's explosion. Doing so might even reveal his own weakened state, stoking the Holy Son of Extinction's treacherous urge to kill him.
"Here."
Lanqi held up Boss Cat and had him take out the [Counterfeit Slate - Wind] for Side to see.
Boss Cat wore a mournful expression as he pulled out the white card that had dragged his feline life into the abyss.
"You truly are versatile, aren't you?"
Side took the [Counterfeit Slate - Wind] and examined it, unable to keep from marveling at how wondrous it was. This was the first time she had ever heard of anyone pirating an [Original Slate].
As a slate bearer herself, she understood better than anyone just how unbelievable such counterfeiting artistry was.
"Then what is your relationship with Loren?"
Side handed the [Counterfeit Slate - Wind] back to the tearful little cat, gently patted the little black cat's head, and then fixed her gaze on Lanqi.
She now roughly understood that her Holy Son's true origin was as a visitor from the Southern Continent.
No wonder he had remained unheard of in the Northern Continent all these years.
The more time she spent with him, the more she felt her Holy Son possessed far too much talent to have stayed in obscurity for so long.
And that brought about a new question: to craft this [Counterfeit Slate - Wind], he must have observed the original [Original Slate - Wind], and its materials must have derived from the [Original Slate - Wind] as well. This meant her Holy Son had undoubtedly met Loren and earned Loren's approval.
"Both a mentor and a friend,"
Lanqi answered with a candid smile. Whenever he thought of Dean Loren, he missed him dearly.
"?"
Boss Cat didn't know whether the "mentor" Lanqi referred to was Loren or Lanqi himself.
"Also, I am not a member of the Church of the Goddess of Fate. Before becoming your Holy Son, I had never officially joined any church faction,"
Lanqi spread his hands and added.
"I believe you."
Side nodded, gazing at Lanqi.
This experience of enduring trials together was the finest promise between them.
"Then do you want to pirate my [Original Slate - Basic]?"
she asked suddenly after a moment's thought.
Logically speaking, magic artificers yearned more than anything to observe the various Original Slates, and for people from the Southern Continent, her slate was something entirely unobtainable to observe.
If scholars on the Southern Continent knew someone had observed the [Original Slate - Basic], it would surely cause a sensation.
"Either way. That Original Slate of yours is the most useless one,"
Lanqi replied indifferently.
In any case, observing it now was useless. He would still have to wait for the Poet of Great Love to return before they could work together to craft a counterfeit slate—she lacked his engraving skill, and he lacked her artificing prowess.
"...I'll hit you."
Side brandished her fist with a shake, thoroughly annoyed.
Yet she didn't actually hit Lanqi as fiercely as she threatened.
"Even if you wanted to see it, I wouldn't agree to let you. After all, I've never let anyone else observe it,"
she scoffed, turning her head away.
"Mm."
Lanqi nodded.
"Didn't you hear me? I said I wouldn't agree to let you see it."
Side looked back at Lanqi, emphasizing her words.
"I heard you,"
Lanqi replied as if it were obvious.
"Beg me. I'm clearly telling you to work a little harder to earn it. Can't you tell?"
"...Then please allow me to observe the [Original Slate - Basic]."
"..."
Hearing Lanqi deliver the line so begrudgingly, exactly like a stage actor with terrible acting skills, Side fell silent for quite a while.
"Forget about ever seeing my slate."
She was thoroughly exasperated and let out a rueful sigh.
Then, thinking about it, she couldn't help but laugh in amusement at him.
Regardless, now was hardly the time to study a slate; they had only escaped immediate danger for the moment.
"How do you plan to deal with Anello next time?"
Side nudged Lanqi with her elbow and asked.
The same trick wouldn't frighten Anello twice, and she didn't know how Lanqi would handle an even more troublesome, humiliated, and enraged Holy Son of Extinction the next time they crossed paths.
Not only that, but the most difficult hurdle right now was Box Mountain Province, guarded by the main forces of the Extinction Branch.
"It's already over."
Lanqi gave an easy smile, retrieving Boss Cat's tier-six spell card [Super-Long-Range Communication Magic] from the cat.
From this distance, they were already within range to contact the city-states of the Snowfield Province.
He contacted the independent terminal of the Snowfield Province's Governor's Mansion, and before long, a secretary from the province patched the call through.
"This is Luoqi McCarthy. Connect me to Viscount Laiwen Chinston."
Holding the communication magic card near his chin like a walkie-talkie, he spoke.
"Right away, Lord Governor. Please wait a moment."
Even without recognizing Lanqi's voice, the moment they noticed the incoming call originated from the Governor's [Super-Long-Range Communication Magic] frequency, the other side was already exceedingly respectful.
Before long, routed through the provincial network, his call was connected to the lord's manor of Chinston City.
"Lord Governor, have you returned? Do you have instructions for us to carry out?"
A mature, steady male voice came through from the other end.
As a powerhouse of Chinston City, Viscount Laiwen Chinston possessed his own [Super-Long-Range Communication Magic]. He felt immense relief at the Governor's safe return from the north, and as Xiaya's father-in-law, he had always harbored deep gratitude toward the Governor.
"Yes, I do need your assistance,"
Lanqi affirmed.
"I am currently pursuing a powerful Spectre Party member who will likely flee into the Snowfield Province before noon. He has three notable traits. First, he is of the same ilk as Professor Meiqi; he will claim to be high-ranking personnel of the Extinction Branch and carry all manner of flawlessly forged seals and Imperial Army identification. Second, he suffers from mental instability and will claim that High Priest Loren has arrived in the Northern Continent; regardless of whether he claims to have clearance, under no circumstances should you hand over any city-state communications terminal to him. Third, he is in a panicked, manic state and extremely aggressive, urgently in need of sedation and medical treatment. Please set a trap to apprehend him within the city."
"Understood! Those damned Spectre Party scum dare to pull the same trick again to fool our Snowfield Province, do they? We've already run drills for this long ago!"
Viscount Chinston's voice was full of fury through gritted teeth, as if he could hardly wait to lay an inescapable dragnet to hunt down this damned Spectre Party rogue.
Beside Lanqi, Side's eyelid twitched uncontrollably as she listened!
She could already picture Anello being played so thoroughly that he would begin questioning his entire life, questioning the world itself!
She really hadn't misjudged this fellow!
Chapter 347