Mage Manual
Chapter 419 - 349: So Strange, Take Another Look

Chapter 419: Chapter 349: So Strange, Take Another Look

May 19, 9:30 PM, with 150 minutes left until the 20th.

On the 72nd floor of the Senheiser Building, in a virtual entertainment area usually frequented only by game players who keep to themselves, there was now a large crowd of socially-defined monsters.

"Adifel, Philip, Bosh, Bill, Soar to the Sky...,"

Layton lifted his red hat, revealing messy red hair and his miracle gaze, inscribed with an array. His laughter carried a hint of madness, "To meet with six Emblem Clan Leaders of Vatican Mura at the same time, even a Legendary Mage wouldn’t receive such treatment, would they?"

"Indeed," said the man in the trench coat. "The last time the six Clan Leaders met was during the last time."

"That must have been several hundred years ago, right?" said the woman with a ponytail. "Why is it that nothing happened when the previous Clan Leaders were in charge, yet now that it’s my turn, such a major incident occurs?"

"That’s not bad, is it?" said the lazy man with a fisherman’s hat, chuckling. "Bill, you must’ve just become a Clan Leader not long ago, right? For someone like me who’s been a Clan Leader for decades, I quite look forward to these little episodes that can bring change to an unchanging life."

"It might just be simple noise." The man with glasses took out a comb and tidied up his bangs, "Be careful not to harm Senheiser’s family, and resolve them quickly."

Banjee, while watching those several men and women, temporarily suppressed his complaints about Igula; instead, he was overtaken by the awe of witnessing the legendary.

Six Emblem Clan Leaders!

The helmspeople of Vatican Mura, spokespeople for eight million people, inheritors of millennia-old families! Even within the Kingdom of Gospel, they were major figures not to be underestimated, lords carving their own domains!

Among outsiders who had witnessed the current state of Vatican Mura, the six Emblem Clan Leaders were even considered to be second only to Empress Yisu among powerful governors. Their influence might be nearly nonexistent outside of Vatican Mura, but Vatican Mura was the largest producer of mermaid scent, and it almost always ranked at the top of city organizations, its annual city production value never falling out of the top five!

If the six families of Vatican Mura were separated, each family’s production value would far surpass that of an ordinary Level 2 City and could even compete with a First-tier City! Because the resources of the Emblem families were centrally distributed, the Clan Leaders could freely move all the resources of the clan, literally embodying ’one is all, all is one’!

Therefore, the Clan Leaders before Banjee were not merely Clan Leaders; they were essentially the personification of their families, the physical embodiment of the cities, every move weighted with the lives of a million clan members. This wasn’t just a description—they truly had the capability to turn clan resources into power—

Whir—

With the rustling sound of pages turning, five Gospel Books appeared before the Clan Leaders. For someone like Hanna from a smaller household, the Gospel Book was naturally a highbrow and reserved consulting platform, but in front of Emblem Clan Leaders, who measured their Gospel Points in the ’millions,’ the openness of the Gospel Book was unimaginable to ordinary people.

Holy Domain!

Two Holy Barriers unfolded instantly, protecting the members of the Red Hat Team. Although no actual attacks were seen, whoever witnessed the dense ripples of the rainstorm on the Holy Barrier knew that mages could not match the Gospel, money indeed shouted.

Cleos’s face turned extremely ugly, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes, and she bit her lip in frustration. "Layton, it seems we’re going to fail this time..."

"We cannot fail."

Layton also summoned the Gospel Book, "I reaffirm once again that we are here only to capture the Empire fugitive, Ash Heath, with no intention of infringing on Vatican Mura. After capturing Ash Heath, we will leave immediately. The fog was not our doing; afterwards, we will apologize to the Red Hats of Vatican Mura for not following proper procedures... no, I am profoundly sorry, esteemed Clan Leaders, I beg your forgiveness for our recklessness."

He suddenly bowed deeply toward the Clan Leaders, lowering his head as he spoke, "According to information revealed at the Weaving Festival, Ash Heath is closely related to the apocalypse of the next fifty years; we absolutely cannot allow him to remain at large! I am willing to surrender all my profits from this mission to the six Emblem families of Vatican Mura. We can ignore others, but Ash Heath must be taken back by us for interrogation!"

The man in the trench coat said, "Do you think Vatican Mura is a bathroom, to come and go as you please—"

"Wait." The man with glasses said, "Senheiser, what do you think? The six Emblem Clan Leaders of Vatican Mura are interdependent, but fighting with Holy Sanctuary Mages or even offending the Yisu Royal Family for an outsider doesn’t fit our family ethos."

Ash nervously looked at Qinna, who glanced back at him with a pensive expression.

It’s over!

Honestly, if the roles were reversed, Ash wouldn’t hesitate to protect an Empire criminal, especially not one who seemed to be the instigator of the apocalypse.

Although Qinna had signed a Contract with Hanna, theoretically obligating her to protect them, otherwise, she would be banned from the Void Realm. But first, it was ’Nona’, not ’Qinna’, standing before them, and Ash was unsure if the Contract could recognize Qinna logging into another account abroad; secondly, Qinna valued her family more than herself—if she truly believed she would endanger Senheiser, then the so-called Contract was just a sunk cost she had to endure.

Threaten Qinna with the Contract? Absolutely not; Qinna was too proud to be coerced. It would only backfire, and Ash still remembered being grazed by a bullet when he once uttered an offensive word to her.

Use Hanna to persuade Qinna? To say that he was very important to Hanna, thus eliciting Qinna’s compassion? That too seemed unlikely...

Suddenly, Ash felt a tug at his trouser leg and glanced down with the corner of his eye, seeing Igula on the ground making a gesture with his mouth.

"Hanna and Nona."

Ash suddenly remembered, Hanna had always said she had a very good relationship with her aunt Nona, and that the reason she came to Vatican Mura this time was because she was confident she could gain Nona’s support, so she brought the whole family to take refuge with her aunt.

Unfortunately, aunt was caught in a trap by Qinna, forcing them to cooperate with Qinna, otherwise they would have sneaked into Vatican Mura smoothly.

In Hanna’s narrative, Nona was the kind aunt who would confront her sister for her niece, the only relative she could confide in from Senheiser, the brightest light in a little girl’s childhood.

However, the truth was, Nona had a soul splitting of her sister Qinna inside her, and when Qinna got trapped in the Void Realm, the first spare body that was activated was Nona—The relationship between the sisters Qinna and Nona was definitely closer than that between Qinna and her daughter Hanna.

Ash now recognized in the "Senheiser Dream" event drawing, the only two characters that appeared were Qinna and Nona! Qinna sat on a chair overlooking Vatican Mura, and Nona was whispering to her by the side, clearly the classic combination of ’the militant sister and the intellectual sister!’

That is to say, the ’kind aunt Nona’ in Hanna’s cognition, might just be a facade carefully arranged by Qinna. According to educational theory, Qinna playing the stern face and Nona playing the gentle face would indeed be a correct method of education.

Qinna might not necessarily love Hanna, but she definitely cared a lot about her.

Ash remembered again the time he met Qinna in the elevator, feeling that Qinna was essentially a more kind and friendly person.

So the correct strategy here should be...

Ash steeled his heart and reached out to hug Qinna!

"Clan Leader Qinna, I am Hanna’s fiancé and will be entering into Senheiser!" Ash bowed his head into her chest, not daring to look at the female clan leader, "Save me!"

He was still not adept at lying with his eyes open, his expressions and demeanor might deduct points, so he could only rely on body movements to enhance persuasiveness.

On the ground, Igula coughed out a mouthful of turbid blood, his eyes filled with shock, not daring to breathe heavily for fear of disrupting Ash’s performance.

This was absolutely a risky move, as they had not yet fully deciphered the complex relationship between this mother and daughter; if the password was wrong, Ash’s actions might only provoke Qinna’s displeasure!

There wasn’t a sound in the air, everyone was waiting for the response from the Senheiser Clan Leader.

"You say, you are Hanna’s fiancé?"

Was she doubting? Did she think I was lying? Could the password be wrong?

However, at this point, Ash could only brave it, "Yes... do you disapprove?"

"No, I highly approve. In fact, it’s wonderful."

Ash’s chin was lifted, forcing him to look into the eyes of the clan leader of Senheiser. Qinna’s golden eyes were filled with playfulness and anticipation, reminding Ash of a half-satiated fox eyeing its next prey.

"However, you should call me Sister Qinna in the future."

Ash blinked, "... Sister Qinna?"

"Good." When Qinna saw a drop of blood on Ash’s left face, she pointed at her own cheek, "There’s blood."

Ash instinctively touched his right cheek, but Qinna shook her head and leaned closer.

Just when Ash thought Qinna was about to help wipe off the blood, he felt a slick tongue lick his cheek.

He shivered all over, nearly melting into a puddle in Qinna’s arms, held gently by her.

Beside them, Igula saw all the interaction clearly, and compared to the pain of his broken ribs, this scene shook the swindler’s heart barrier even more.

Ash, what kind of password did you input!

Qinna’s attitude towards you doesn’t seem like she is dealing with her daughter’s partner at all!

Though I am from Blood Moon, and have seen quite a lot of family ethics films here, I’ve never seen such a scene!

It’s too weird, another look.