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Chapter 594.1: Again (1)

Long-distance communication was extremely expensive and unreliable in the Sia Continent, partly due to mana fluctuations in the surrounding environment.

Medium-distance communication was plausible, but anything beyond that was so susceptible to disruptions that it would require an exponential increase in mana quantity and quality to properly function, which, in turn, imposed extremely high requirements on the magic tool.

Long-distance communication magic tools were highly prone to errors, but they still cost an exorbitant price of at least six digits’ worth of gold coins. For that reason, they were used only by the high nobles of each country.

Expensive, unstable, and riddled with flaws—long-distance communication magic tools were a huge hassle to deal with.

However, the Ascarts, as a military house, understood the importance of timely intelligence in war. Victory and defeat were often determined by which side first received critical news to claim the upper hand.

That was why they squeezed out money, despite how poor they were, to generously invest in the research of long-range communication magic tools. Eventually, they became the second fiefdom in the Theocracy after the Xeclydes to possess long-range communication magic tools.

As a matter of fact, Roel had made sure to establish long-range communication channels with Rose of Dawn’s members stationed in other countries, though he had never tapped into those channels before due to how expensive they were to operate.

Nevertheless, Wilhelmina, who had a secret crush on him, imprinted his contact in her mind. That was why she could immediately recognize the destination of the last transmission signal on the long-distance communication magic tool.

Roel was startled, but he wasn’t too surprised after a moment of thought.

At the time Tark Stronghold was devoured by Shrouding Fog, Nora was in the midst of awakening her Golden Bloodline and was wrestling with the Angel Sovereign for control over her body.

While Nora had kept the matter from Roel so as not to worry him, Holy Eminence John noticed something was amiss and requested him to head to Tark Stronghold to help her. The Genesis Goddess Church might have tried to get into contact with him then, resulting in the transmission.

“Was the last transmission to the Ascart House? That might be a coincidence.”

“A coincidence?”

“Mmhm. Uncle Kane—I mean ‘Nora’s father’—might have tried to contact me during that period of time, so…”

“No, that’s impossible,” Wilhelmina sharply refuted his explanation.

“Hm?” Roel was taken aback.

Wilhelmina fell silent for a brief moment before solemnly explaining the matter, “Roel, you might be unaware of it since you were in the Witness State in the past year, but a new model of the communication magic tool was distributed by the united army after you disappeared.”

“After… I disappeared?”

“Since the Fallens’ assault on Ascart City, the united army’s upper echelons suspected that the evil cultists have been tapping our communication magic tools, so they worked with Brolne to develop and distribute new communication magic tools. This mana pulsation corresponds to Set 001, which Principal Antonio gifted to your house.”

“Doesn’t that mean that…”

“Yes, the transmission is unlikely to have been sent by one of Tark Stronghold’s personnel, and it was done within the past year,” Wilhelmina grimly said.

Roel’s body stiffened up.

A second later, his eyes suddenly widened as realization struck him. Wilhelmina’s words echoed endlessly in his mind as he stepped forward and stared at the last record on the communication magic tool.

Supposing what Wilhelmina said was true, it would mean that someone had entered this dimension shortly after Roel went into the Witness State and attempted to contact the Ascart House.

If so, who could that person be?

The first possibility that came to Roel’s mind was the Mother Goddess, the creator of the Six Calamities. Right before he returned from the Witness State, the Mother Goddess had a brief moment of confusion where Her memories were mixed with those from the real world. That might have affected the real world’s Mother Goddess, thus giving her the motive to contact him.

However, Roel quickly refuted that possibility.

In the first place, there was no need for the Mother Goddess to resort to such communication magic tools if She truly wanted to contact him. After eliminating this possibility, there was only one other person whom he could think of.

“Alicia…”

Roel’s eyes slowly narrowed as he thought about the missing silver-haired girl, and Wilhelmina also grimly nodded in agreement.

Alicia’s disappearance was a mystery to the world, but there were some clues that could be gathered from the circumstances of her disappearance. For instance, she had disappeared in the area where Roel had entered the Witness State, where Shrouding Fog was likely lurking.

On top of that, Alicia was likely to be familiar with operating communication magic tools, given how she had been managing the Ascarts’ intelligence network. It would have been reasonable for her to attempt to reach out to the outside world if she had been transported here.

The only remaining question was how Alicia was able to freely maneuver in this space when the others had vanished. Roel and Wilhelmina were exceptions because they had come in here through Roel’s ability, and they had been too weak to catch Shrouding Fog’s attention thus far. The same couldn’t be said about Alicia.

Regarding this matter, Roel had his guess—the Black Moon.

The Black Moon was the Mother Goddess’ authority. If Alicia was the sentient manifestation of the Black Moon, it was not implausible for her to be allowed to wander freely in here.

The thought of that drove Roel’s emotions over the edge. He quickly turned around to look for Alicia’s trail, only for Wilhelmina to grab his arm and stop him.

“Hold on, Roel! Calm down. We have already looked around. She isn’t here.”

“There are many places we haven’t checked yet!”

“We didn’t conceal our aura. Miss Alicia would have noticed us if she was here.”

“…”

Those words doused Roel’s agitation like a pail of cold water. He backed into the wall and took several deep breaths before pondering the matter.

Wilhelmina was right.

Given Roel’s understanding of Alicia’s capabilities, she would have noticed them as soon as they entered this space. They wouldn’t have struggled with treatment and looking for water at all. Besides, it was just conjecture on his part that she was the one who operated the magic tool; he had no concrete proof of the matter.

So, he put down his hand and sighed.

“My apologies. I got ahead of myself.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m worried about Miss Alicia too.”

“In the first place, we can’t be sure whether Alicia has been here or not.”

“No, I believe that Alicia has been here,” Wilhelmina replied affirmatively.

Shocked to hear those words, Roel quickly enquired into the reason behind Wilhelmina’s claim. The latter lowered her head and reached for the magic tool in front of her.

“Here’s the reason.”

Wilhelmina raised her hand, revealing a strand of lustrous, silver hair between her fingers.

…