The Witch Hunter System
chapter-711

"There hasn't been any progress on Divine Sword City," Eniwse shook her head with a helpless sigh.

"In fact, my plans to expand the Shadow Witch Order's intelligence network throughout all twelve city-states of the Divine League had come to a standstill. None of these city-states seem to take kindly to outsiders entering their territory."

"Whether they are merchants or travelers, witches or regular men, anyone that steps into their domain will be secretly tracked and eventually killed. I lost many good witches just to understand this much," Eniwse said disappointedly.

"That's rather suspicious," Astoria rubbed her chin thoughtfully before guessing, "It seems they are either trying to hide something very important or extremely wary of outside threats."

"It might even be both reasons," Astoria further guessed.

"That is also what I suspect," Eniwse nodded and said, "Just Divine Sword City alone possesses some extremely powerful individuals called Sword Masters. High Witches are just little lambs in front of them."

"However, their power doesn't come from themselves but the swords they wield. These divine swords have incredible sharpness and force. Some even have mystical abilities. It really makes one wonder how they are made."

"The Divine League must be trying to protect the secret method to producing these kinds of divine weapons. It might be the only thing keeping their alliance strong and deterring their powerful neighbors from invading them," Eniwse speculated.

"I thought you only knew the Divine League removes all outsiders entering their domain?" Astoria asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It is the only fact I know for certain. The rest is just speculation," Eniwse replied.

"I see," Astoria uttered. After pondering for a moment, she rummaged through some pile of files on her desk before pulling out some 200-year-old papers and handing them over. "The information in these papers might interest you, Lady Eniwse."

"What kind of information are they?" Eniwse accepted the old papers and started skimming over the contents.

"Just some trade routes the Holy Knight Empire uses to reach the Free Federation. Of course, the newer routes avoid the borders of the twelve city-states belonging to the Divine League," Astoria answered.

"It seems the empire's trade routes had been altered numerous times over the course of two hundred years. I see. The Divine League was formed during the Holy Knight Empire's aggressive expansion period," Eniwse understood before nodding, "Indeed, this kind of information is useful to me."

"That's some impressive analytical power. You understood that much so quickly at a glance," Astoria praised.

Eniwse replied with a slight smile and didn't comment.

Silence returned to the room as Astoria and Eniwse returned to their work.

Astoria read through a pile of letters of complaints, daily reports, civil to national concerns, and miscellaneous suggestions from officials. On the other hand, Eniwse screened for talents from the witch sanctuaries to recruit into her Shadow Witch Order.

…

Meanwhile, the Vaanatics and Vahnmaniacs continued to cause a disturbance in the holy city's main square as they engaged in their verbal war.

"Ptui!" a thug-like Vahnmaniac spat and rolled up her ragged sleeves before barking, "What do you mean only chaste witches will enter Lord Vahn's eyes and receive his divine blessings?!"

"Hmph, Bitch! Who the hell are you to say such a thing?! How dare you dirty our savior's name with such words! I don't know who you think you are, but I will not tolerate anyone making our savior sound like a big, lustful pervert!"

"Our savior is the most compassionate man in this world! He sees the right and wrong in this world and does not turn a blind eye to the injustice and darkness that plague this land. Even filthy witches like us, who are not worth anything and are no different from the dirt on the ground, are worthy of his salvation."

"Lord Vahn does not discriminate between those he saves! His compassion reaches out to all who are suffering and unfortunate. Hmph! How can he be the same as those scums that lust for chaste beauty?!" the thug-like Vahnmaniac snorted with contempt.

In her eyes, the words that came out of the Vaanatics were no different from the fart coming out of her ass.

"Y-You… uneducated swine! Since when did we say Lord Vaan was a big pervert that lusts after chaste beauties?! You are completely twisting our words!" a virgin Vaanatic seethed angrily.

"We only said that the most devoted and chaste witches will have the chance to earn Lord Vaan's smile and receive his blessings! Who doesn't know the story of Lord Vaan raising thousands of High Witches to overturn the tides of war? Do you think just anyone can receive his blessing and become a High Witch overnight?!"

"Even if countless beautiful naked witches lined up to warm his bed, he might not even glance at any of them! Only the chosen ones will enter his eyes and receive powers others can't even dream of obtaining, even if they work hard for a lifetime! Do you think anyone can do something like that?!"

"Lord Vaan was born to rule over us and help us rise! He is the Lord of Witches. That's why, as witches, we must always keep ourselves chaste and devout to Lord Vaan! His smile grants us salvation, and his blessing allows us to overcome all obstacles!" the virgin Vaanatic ardently preached.

However, the Vahnmaniacs were even more unhappy to hear such words.

"Nonsense! Your words make no sense! Lord Vahn is our savior! He saved us when we had nothing but dirt-stained bodies and rags for wear! Is this not the smile of Lord Vahn you speak of? Hmph!" another thug-like Vahnmaniac snorted.

"Just because you look a little cleaner than us, that gives you the right to be better than us? Because we are dirty, Lord Vahn will never look at us? Who the hell do you think you are? Are you looking down on us?"

…

As the Vaanatics and Vahnmaniacs verbally fought, a priest from the Sun God Temple was hiding in the corner of the main square, observing the situation with a guilty look.

In fact, today's verbal conflict between the two extremist groups was caused by him when he asked a dirty young girl in ragged clothes, "Have you heard of our Lord and Savior, Sun God Vahn?"

He just wanted to spread his faith.

Who would have known the person he randomly picked on the streets would be a Vahnmaniac? Who would have also known the person would fiercely criticize him and be overheard by a Vaanatic?

The priest only hoped the frustrated store owners in the main square wouldn't find out the truth and direct their anger at him.