The Sorcerer's Handbook

"Please... I beg you... don't..."

"I'll do anything you want, just don't do this..."

"NO!!"

With a heart-wrenching scream, Sacred Realm sorcerer Rein Mercury was thrown headfirst into the mud pit.

This was no ordinary mud pit. It was modeled after a special zone in the Continent of Time known as the Soul-Washing Pond. The original pond dissolved impurities in the soul, typically enhancing a sorcerer's learning ability, focus, and mental state for about a week. It was considered a highly beneficial, encounter-type opportunity.

The Belldet imitation, however, naturally failed to replicate any such beneficial effects. It did indeed dissolve impurities, but what it dissolved were physical rather than spiritual, specifically targeting clothes and body hair.

No one knew why the Belldet family had built such a meaningless facility. Perhaps they were simply trying to replicate the Continent of Time's encounter system, or perhaps they were so wealthy that their only recourse was wasting money to stimulate domestic demand. In any case, it had unexpectedly become a massive help to Ashe and the others. It was like finding a filthy, dung-covered mop right next to you in the middle of a street fight.

After the preliminary "tenderizing" of their pursuers, the next step was the main course. They had to keep these people temporarily detained within the Belldet Estate, ensuring they could not continue hunting the Funeral Agency.

The most thorough method would have been to cripple them, disfigure them severely, or even slaughter the other Sacred Realm sorcerers entirely. That way, they would be completely unable to pursue anyone. Even after recovering through healing-type Miracles, they would inevitably direct their hatred toward the Belldet family, and the resulting internal conflict alone would drain these financial aristocratic families.

However, in the end, Ashe and the others abandoned this plan.

Firstly, a negative reputation had tiers. Dislike and a blood feud were completely different concepts. If these financial families had previously allocated only twenty percent of their attention toward dealing with the Funeral Agency, then after such brutal treatment, that number might rise to seventy percent, leaving Ashe and the crew in a far more precarious situation.

Secondly, there was Lys.

Among the adults present, Annan and Pankey were both agency members, and ruthless was far too mild a word for them. There was little to add about Harvey. either. The moral constraints of this "backward" world simply did not exist for him. Even Ashe, after everything he had experienced, had long since become accustomed to hardship, even to the point of sharing a deep, familiar bond with Death itself. When necessary, he would not hesitate to dirty his hands.

But as long as Lys was present, Ashe could not bring himself to watch things turn completely dark and grim. Still...

Ashe looked at the people in the mud pit. Their hair and clothes had already dissolved, leaving them bald, naked, and soaking in the yellowish sludge. The scene was so grotesque it looked like a writhing mass of filth, so much so that even Ashe felt he needed a sanity check, let alone Lys.

Fortunately, the effect was excellent. Rein, Juventus, and the other Sacred Realm sorcerers would most definitely not dare show their faces until they spent hours washing up and regrew their hair.

"Stop looking, Lys. Let's go see the pretty ladies."

"Huh?" Lys looked reluctant. "I think this is kind of interesting too..."

"Harvey!" Ashe called out. "Did you corrupt Lys?"

Harvey replied, "You do realize there's a whole large intestine between corpses and filth, right? Don't blame everything on me. Besides, it's normal for children to like dirty things. Only adults pretend to love cleanliness."

"What kind of logic is that supposed to be?!"

After dealing with the male sorcerers, it was time for the females.

They were spared the mud pit treatment, meaning no hair removal, no stripping, and no outright humiliation. This was not because Ashe and the others suddenly showed mercy, but because they needed a pretext to let the Six-Emblem families off easy. Most of the captives brought by Quinna's group happened to be female sorcerers, so releasing them this way would not look out of place.

Quinna might have come with the intention to capture them, but when faced with pressure from Sacred Realm sorcerers like Rein Mercury, she was still willing to stand up and fight other factions to protect them. Even if it was out of personal motives, Ashe and Annan had to acknowledge that debt.

Among everyone present, only Harvey had the right to object. However, just as he hadn't cared when Quinna failed to protect him earlier, he also didn't care about Ashe and the others protecting her now.

Still, it was necessary to make things slightly inconvenient for Quinna and her group. Fortunately, there was a wine pool nearby. It was called a wine pool, but it was really just filled with sweet alcoholic beverages. Ashe would occasionally pass by and scoop a drink from it himself.

All the female sorcerers were thrown into the pool. Their clothes were instantly soaked, and more importantly, the sweet liquor clung to them, thick and sticky. Pampered as they were, these Gospel sorcerers would definitely rush off to bathe the moment they regained their mobility.

Lys directed little Pankey, and the two children smoothly lifted a female sorcerer into the wine pool. Ashe followed suit, ordering his substitute to toss another one in.

Soon, he encountered a particularly difficult target, Quinna.

Throwing a mother into the sea was a chore that should only fall to a daughter. Unfortunately, Annan was currently standing by the edge of the wine pool talking intimately with Nona, clearly avoiding her mother.

Humans were truly strange creatures. When Quinna was strong and dominant, Annan dared to challenge her head-on. But now that Quinna had become gentle and vulnerable, Annan chose to hide far away.

Perhaps the only way Annan and Quinna knew how to interact was through the cycle of resistance and suppression. Once that suppression disappeared, the Lady no longer knew how to face her mother.

Since Annan did not dare to handle it herself, the trouble had to fall on someone else. Ashe scratched his head and instructed his substitute to carry Quinna over. For a task like directly offending a Sacred Realm sorcerer, it was best left to the substitute.

However, the moment the substitute reached out, Quinna bit down hard on his hand. Startled, the substitute immediately pulled back.

The substitute looked toward Ashe. In situations with such strong resistance, the male sorcerers were usually handled by grabbing their legs, spinning them in midair, and tossing them straight into the mud pit. So, should they just fly Annan's mother over the same way?

But their goal was to let Quinna go, so humiliating her like that was obviously not an option. Ashe could only walk over with a bitter expression and pick her up himself. "Be good, don't struggle. It'll be qui... mmph!"

She was heavy.

Quinna was already taller than Ashe. With a well-trained, curvy build and making no effort to support herself, she was naturally dead weight. Anyone who had ever carried a drunk person knew this, as the same body could feel completely different depending on whether the person cooperated or went entirely limp.

Quinna mocked. "You should train your strength with a Brute Body Class spirit. If you struggle this much just carrying me moving forward, it'll really ruin the mood."

What kind of situation would I even need to carry you again? Ashe thought.

"If you carry me like this, I'll be uncomfortable too. Hold me tighter so I can stretch my arms," Quinna ordered without hesitation.

Ashe had no choice but to follow her instructions. The elven family leader subtly shifted her graceful body, placing her weight more efficiently onto Ashe's torso. With that adjustment, the strain on his arms was instantly reduced.

However, this also brought Quinna's head close to his shoulder, making the two look like they were leaning in to whisper private words.

And in fact, they were.

She said softly, "Come back to Vanmura with me. You have nowhere left to run."

"You should say that to your daughter."

Quinna replied with a smile, "Whatever I say, Annan just does the opposite. But you can persuade her, can't you? You're her fiancé."

Because they were too close, Quinna's breath brushed against Ashe's ear, tickling slightly. "Sorry, I lied about that. I actually have nothing to do with Annan."

"Mmhmm," Quinna didn't seem to care. "But she listens to you. I can see it. Do you still want to drift around like this? Don't you want a stable life?"

"The Six-Emblems can no longer protect us—"

"They can," Quinna interrupted, baring her teeth slightly in defiance. "If I say they can, then they can."

Ashe turned to look at her. "But I don't want to go to Vanmura."

Their faces were extremely close now, almost nose to nose, with their reflections mirrored in each other's eyes. "I hate Vanmura."

That answer seemed to surprise Quinna. "Why?"

"The white mist of Vanmura, the Mermaid Weed Farms, the intoxicated, dreamlike lifestyle, I don't like any of it."

Quinna seemed amused. "Then what do you like? Belldet's financial domination? Or some other city system? The Vanmura system already takes care of everyone. It allows every citizen to live a happy life. Even Montphera cannot do that. Is there really a better city than Vanmura?"

"There might not be a better city, and there might not even be a city I like in the Gospel Kingdom."

"Then you..."

"But that doesn't mean I have to choose the least hateful option," Ashe said as he crouched down and slowly lowered Quinna into the wine pool. "Quinna, do you know? I'm someone who easily settles for what's available. If I stayed in Vanmura, I'd probably end up becoming one of your people. So I can't help you persuade Annan, because I need her to keep charging forward with me until I find a place where I can retire, or until we obtain the wish of the Divine Lord."

Ashe smiled. "But I'll pass on your concern for Annan. Next time I visit Vanmura, I hope you'll still be willing to receive me."

"No need for that trouble. I'll definitely capture you before that happens. Then we'll meet every day, morning and night."

"Then I'll wait, but I won't keep my hopes up."

At this point, Quinna's waist was already submerged in the wine pool. She said, "Oh right, I still have something to tell you. Come closer."

Confused, Ashe leaned in. Quinna suddenly twisted her body and, using momentum and her own imbalance, dragged him straight into the wine pool. The two of them sank together into the alcoholic liquid.

"Cough, cough!" Ashe helped her up by her shoulders, laughing helplessly. "Was that revenge? Don't you realize we were deliberately letting the Six-Emblems go?"

With her wet hair draped over her shoulders, Quinna looked at him through hazy eyes and smiled. "You're covered in wine."

"That's because of yo—"

Before Ashe could finish, Quinna leaned in. With a slick motion, she licked the wine from his face. The warm breath that followed seemed to ignite the alcohol itself, setting his entire body ablaze.

"Annan is a very stubborn child," she said calmly, as if continuing an entirely unrelated topic. "When the time comes, make sure you hold her back."

Ashe could only nod repeatedly, hastily retreating from the situation. Before leaving, he adjusted Quinna's posture so she lay flat on her back, preventing the wine from blocking her airway.

However, this left the elven beauty floating on the surface of the wine pool. With her soaked clothing, rising curves, flushed cheeks, and the dizzying, intoxicating atmosphere, Ashe did not dare look for long. He was afraid that if he did, he might end up following her all the way back to Vanmura.

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