As soon as Shad finished speaking, not only Miss Theresa, but even the six maid ladies and Miss Violet were startled. The Witch Emperor immediately reached out and covered Shad's mouth, then looked toward the tower with great anxiety. Only after confirming that no other anomalies had occurred did she lower her voice and scold him
"Shad, you cannot speak such things recklessly. Even if you do not believe in this Great One, you must still revere the deities."
Because gods truly existed in this world, and genuine miracles occurred, the people of this world possessed an innate, heartfelt reverence for the divine, rather than one manufactured over years by charlatans and frauds.
Shad also knew that such words should not be spoken lightly, but he believed his concerns were far from baseless
"I'll keep this sword with me."
He still did not put down his weapon
"I don't know what the situation is for the Third Trial yet. I suspect the deity residing in the tower won't mind me carrying this."
Miss Violet frowned beautifully as she looked at Shad
"Sir, you must promise me that you will absolutely never use this weapon, regardless of the circumstances."
"What do you think I'm going to do?"
Shad knew she had misunderstood; the lady likely thought he was a madman
"Let Miss Theresa hold it."
He thrust the sword into the hands of the Tenth-Order Witch, Seksess. The latter looked toward the Witch Emperor with some unease, and only after seeing her nod did she grip the sword tightly, saying very nervously
"Mr. Hamilton, unless absolutely necessary, I will not hand this sword back to you."
It seemed she had also misunderstood Shad's intentions.
In any case, time was running out, and Shad had no time to explain the reason for his abrupt remark. He made a gesture of invitation and then pushed open the doors of the obsidian tower.
The six maids in their black-and-white long dresses instinctively shrank toward the edge of the safe zone. Miss Theresa breathed heavily and nervously to compose herself; only Miss Violet remained composed.
She watched as the breeze blowing from inside the tower left the first mark upon Shad's cheek. She saw cracks, like the embers of a golden flame, spreading across his body as he entered the tower, until golden sparks of light drifted away with the sway of his hem.
"What a pity he cannot stay."
Miss Violet tossed her hat to a maid and nudged the clearly still-fearful Miss Theresa to follow
"After all, he is a man not of this time. I wonder just how distant a future he comes from, if..."
Drawing from the experience of the previous two times, Shad once again led the way. Miss Theresa, carrying [The Night Watchman], walked almost pressed against Shad's back, while Miss Violet followed last.
The first floor of the tower was a calm lake surface shrouded in water vapor. Under the influence of a light source from an unknown origin, the clear surface was as flat as a mirror, which conversely made it difficult to imagine whether there was a bottomless abyss beneath their feet.
To get from the first floor to the second, one had to pass through invisible stairs that only appeared upon touch. Fortunately, the positions of these stairs did not change; relying on his excellent memory, ascending this time was much faster than the last.
The second floor of the tower featured a terrain that was half riverbank and half stream. Last time, after Shad threw three papers into the water, the deity had "risen" directly from the lake. This time, upon arriving at the second floor, the stream flowed gently, and the pebbles on the riverbank were exactly the same as before, but there were no stairs leading to the floor above.
"Do we still need to find a way up ourselves?"
Miss Violet asked cautiously. Miss Theresa's face was somewhat pale, but since the deity was on a higher level this time, she did not yet require additional support.
"Last time we threw things into the stream and the deity appeared. Do we need to do the same this time?"
Shad speculated, searching through the toys in his pocket as he spoke. He had prepared several books before setting out; eventually, he pulled out a copy of *The Art of Mathematics*, an introductory mathematics reader from the Sixth Epoch's Steam Age.
Squatting by the stream, he carefully placed the book into the flowing water. The cold, clear stream wet his fingers, but the thick, lead-printed mathematics reader did not sink.
Shad stood up and stepped back quickly, watching the book float away with the two ladies. Although the area of the second floor was far larger than it appeared from the outside, it still had a limit. Just as the book reached the end of the stream, slight ripples appeared on the crystal-clear surface. A slender current of water swallowed the book, and then the water, as if guided by a paintbrush, floated upward from the stream, precisely sketching a staircase of water in the air that extended toward an unseen height
"As I thought."
Shad breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that the deities and angels related to the Ancient God [The Mentor of Secrets] seemed to enjoy these fairy-tale-like plot points.
Time was short. He was about to lead the way up the water stairs to scout, but a hand pressed down on his shoulder from behind.
Turning around, he found Miss Violet's dark-golden eyes watching him
"There's no time for idle chat now, so I want to ask you: after this trial ends, you won't be coming back, will you?"
Beside her, the bespectacled Miss Theresa opened her mouth, but said nothing.
Shad nodded
"Yes... Miss Violet, Miss Theresa, it was a pleasure meeting you."
"Though I guessed it would be so, it really is a disappointment. Since my ascension to the Thirteenth Order, this is the first time I've seen a treasure I liked slip through my fingers."
The Witch Emperor spoke with considerable regret, then unceremoniously reached out to touch Shad's face. Only after Shad attempted to dodge and failed did she move her hand away
"If there were time, I'd truly like to taste you. Not just because you are a man a witch can touch; I am simultaneously fond of your soul and your body. You have that honor."
Her beautiful eyes gazed at Shad. Shad didn't know what to say; the temperaments of the Witch Emperors were indeed exactly as he had expected.
Blushing, Miss Theresa tugged at Miss Violet's sleeve, but the latter didn't mind
"Schultz, oh Schultz, if you want something, you must say it. Especially for a Thirteenth-Order Witch like me, there is no need to hide one's heart; that would only make me look ridiculous."
She was still educating her distant niece; it seemed their usual relationship was quite good
"His time is limited. After accompanying us to see the deity, he likely won't have time to return outside the tower to chat. Schultz, is there anything you want to say? You can treat this as a farewell."
The bespectacled witch looked at Shad hesitantly, her face slightly flushed
"Thank you for your help. I hope you never forget us."
Miss Violet shook her head with a smile
"Let's go, Shad, to face the final trial. Although this is a final parting, I shall certainly remember you."
She didn't sound like she was joking. When speaking of the parting, there was no regret on her face, only melancholy
"Yes, I will definitely remember you."
The two high-order witches also possessed the ability to walk on water. Led by Shad, the party of three crossed the stream and ascended the water-constructed stairs. After climbing quickly for twenty-three steps, the clouds shrouding the sky suddenly dispersed, revealing the door at the end of the water stairs.
"Finally..."
It was a curtain of water, very similar to the door Shad had seen when he last visited the Goddess of the Lake with Professor Drake.
However, this time, a hand simply brushed aside the silk-like water curtain. Upon reaching the third floor, the environment was not as unimaginably fantastical as one might expect.
Behind the door was a calm lake, and in the center of the lake was an island about the size of Shad's bedroom. The sky was shrouded in gray mist, making the distance between the sky and the water seem exceptionally close. The natural light remained dim, neither like daytime nor the transition between day and night, but rather like the lighting of the smoggy weather common in Tobesk City. It was low and gloomy, subconsciously making one's mood heavy.
"Another lake island?"
The deities, angels, and relics related to [The Mentor of Secrets] all favored lake island settings. This familiar scene once again led Shad to weigh the possibility that the Third Trial was "Defeat Me."
The island was very small, and the area of this gloomy lake was not large either. The island was not far from the water curtain door, and because of its small size, Shad could see its entire layout at a glance.
The island was not barren; emerald green grass covered the ground, and in the center stood a small wooden cabin. To the side of the cabin, a chicken coop and a vegetable garden were enclosed by fences. Behind the cabin stood a towering tree of an indiscernible species, its canopy covering more than half the island. Considering the small size of the island, the cabin itself occupied an area only as large as Shad's dressing room, roughly similar to a temporary hut used by a forest ranger or a hunter.
Shad walked in front, while Miss Violet supported Miss Theresa behind him. Just as the three of them stepped onto the island facing the cabin door, the wooden door—which looked as though even Mia could ram open—was pushed open, and the deity, radiating a soft light, stepped out.
The deity's manifested image was still that of the blonde woman with black eyes. She wore an unadorned scholar's robe and a pointed hat. Only her glasses looked peculiar: the left lens was shaped like a pentagram, and the right lens was shaped like an equilateral triangle.
In this gloomy and oppressive environment, the soft light emanating from the deity was very relaxing to the spirit—at least, that was what Shad thought. But the appearance of the god meant that its very existence began to spontaneously influence the environment. Behind him, Miss Theresa had already leaned her entire weight onto Miss Violet. Although the Thirteenth-Order Great Witch was also struggling, she could barely persevere.
She simply felt that her distant niece was so troublesome; young girls were always so immature.
(End of Chapter)