December 20, 1346
In the afternoon, Altair arrived at Baron Hoy's house once again.
Since Madam Sharon had given instructions beforehand, the servants did not dare to be negligent. They enthusiastically led her to the private drawing room and brought black tea and snacks.
Before long, Madam Sharon, wearing a thin gauze dress, walked in leading a young girl who was carrying a light-colored wooden box.
After entering, Madam Sharon took both their hands and introduced them warmly: "Altair, this is Adela Kennedy, an Intisian. She is the contact person the family has arranged for you."
"Adela, this is Altair. You should already be clear about her situation, so there's no need for a special introduction."
"Nice to meet you," Altair greeted with a smile.
Adela nodded and replied with a smile, "Good afternoon, Miss Altair."
"I want to complete the task as soon as possible. Let's get straight to the point."
After speaking, Adela placed the box in her hand onto a nearby table and explained, "All the items in this suitcase are the promises given to you by the Sect and the White Saintess."
"Two sets each of the Beyonder 'materials or characteristics' required for sequence 9 to Sequence 4 of the Assassin Pathway, as well as six Beyonder characteristics for Traveler, Alchemist, Shepherd, Imperative Mage, Manipulator, and Shaman King."
"There are also occultism books opened by the Church for the Sequence 4 Demoness of Despair. However, these are all general knowledge. If you need specialized knowledge, you will need to contribute to the family before you can exchange for them."
"The Church can provide you with the characteristics and related books for the Assassin Pathway for free. As for the other characteristics, you will need to provide an additional 100,000 gold pounds."
After speaking, she took a small ring box from her bosom, opened it, and took out a naturally crafted sapphire ring.
She then said, "Put this ring on."
After taking the ring, Altair examined it curiously, thinking to herself: 'Could this be the sapphire ring in Trissy's hands three years from now? She used the ring to summon the "Primordial Demoness" Cheek and disrupted George III's apotheosis ritual.'
"Adam"
As soon as this thought fell, a ripple like water appeared in the surrounding space, gradually spreading outwards with her as the center.
But all these fluctuations might have been a visual Error or an illusion; at the very least, the three people in the room did not observe or feel them.
By the time Altair put the ring on her ring finger, neither the ring nor she had undergone any changes. She then looked at it curiously, thinking, 'It seems I overthought it; this is just an ordinary ring.'
Adela, on the other hand, observed Altair's reaction after putting on the ring. After waiting a few seconds and seeing nothing happen, she interrupted, "Let's make an oath. Recite it with me."
"The source of disaster, the symbol of destruction and doomsday, the Demoness who wields chaos. I, Adela, swear by the Ring of Cheek: I am willing to use this female body to spread calamity and incite fear..."
After the oath was finished, Altair calmed herself and her pupils regained focus. She looked in terror at the sapphire ring on her right hand, which was now emitting a faint light.
Adela, standing not far away, watched her calmly. When everything returned to normal, she stepped forward and opened her palm.
Seeing her movement, Altair immediately understood and hurriedly took off the sapphire ring from her ring finger and handed it to her.
After taking back the ring, Adela carefully stored it away again and explained, "You don't need to be afraid. She is the faith of the Church, the First One nurtured by chaos, and the Final One who ends everything."
After hearing Adela's words, Altair thought, 'What are you talking about? I didn't see the Primordial Demoness. What surprised me was why I followed you in reciting the oath, and that the ring really is the Ring of Cheek.'
Madam Sharon, who had been standing aside with nothing to do, saw that things were over and hurriedly stepped forward to lead them to their seats, saying, "Sister, you can rest easy. Although the Demoness Sect presents itself as a sect to the outside world, we are essentially a family. We are all daughters of the Primordial One."
"Mhm, I understand," Altair said softly.
Seeing Altair's reaction, Madam Sharon was about to speak when Adela said to her:
"Sharon, go prepare some refreshments first. We will move on to the follow-up negotiations immediately."
Hearing this, Madam Sharon revealed a suggestive smile and said coquettishly, "I'll go prepare them right away."
After she left the room, Adela spoke again, "Sharon is right. The Demoness Sect is essentially a Demoness family. Although many things within the sect cannot be unified, we are consistent toward the outside world."
"I wasn't originally the one supposed to guide you into the family this time, but unfortunately, the person originally scheduled received another mission when they set out three days ago, so I was sent instead."
"She should have told you as well that the family needs you to provide a stable, large-scale channel for firearms. This is a task you must complete. As for other matters later, you don't need to handle them for now, but remember to speed up your 'Acting' to advance to Sequence 4."
"The 'Acting' method for a Demoness must be kept in mind... remember that you are only Acting; do not lose yourself."
Just as Adela finished saying this, Madam Sharon knocked on the door and led the servants inside.
After the refreshments were laid out and the servants left, she introduced to them, "Marquis Black Tea, delicate taste, quick sweet aftertaste..."
Listening to Madam Sharon's introduction, the two of them involuntarily tasted the black tea in their cups.
After the tea tasting, Adela continued:
"You don't need to give me that 100,000 gold pounds. Use it to open up the channel and make purchases. If possible, let me take away the first shipment of goods before the end of January after the New Year."
Altair nodded and asked curiously, "Why does the family need so many weapons? We don't need to do 'Acting' for war, do we?"
Adela nodded and joked in a steady tone, "To make money. The Sect needs to pay huge sums of money every year to train newcomers."
"Besides, war itself is a disaster for ordinary people. The family also owns armories in Intis, but the weapons market is developing too fast. After Loen introduced new weapons six months ago, other countries also developed new types of weapons in the past month or so."
"Shouldn't that mean technical support is urgently needed? Buying and reselling wouldn't make much money, right?" Altair muttered.
"You're certainly right." Adela agreed directly after hearing her mutter, then added, "But we can't get the technology. As far as I know, the Matriarch once performed a specific divination using the designer's name."
"According to normal logic, even if a pseudonym was used, with the Matriarch's strength as a Sequence 2, she should have been able to divine some clues. But the result we got was very strange; we only obtained one useful piece of information: they do not belong to this era."