Sorcerer’s Handbook

Sneaking into the Royal Palace was unexpectedly simpler than imagined.

During a brief few days of odd jobs, Igor and his team not only measured Nabistin’s terrain firsthand but also discovered a crucial detail: all personnel were provided by the Gospel.

Even if some workers weren’t underground people but rather respectable residents of the ground city, they were still ‘Gospel employees’, whose service was all skill, devoid of any emotion.

They boldly inferred that the palace attendants were likely 100% automated. Though there was the possibility of traditional holdovers like ‘real service is nobler’, ‘serving the royal family can’t be outsourced’, or ‘being a dog for Yisuo must be cherished’, the plan was a daring gamble from the start, and they’d just have to bet that the Yisuo Royal Family wasn’t that feudal.

Clearly, Annan’s bet paid off. At the Court Banquet hosted by the royal family, all the service attendants were ‘Gospel employees’, indicating that the Yisuo Royal Family had fully embraced modernity. However, palace attendants weren’t recruited part-time from the underground city; they were full-time Nabistin natives. Ashe and his team could only sweep the streets of Nabistin, as the palace grounds were an exclusive zone for upper echelons.

But there was a catch: all ‘Gospel employees’ had their duties assigned by the Gospel, with no intervention from the palace in personnel matters.

This presented a massive loophole for the Purple Moth to exploit with ease—don’t forget, just over a month ago, Annan was a manager at a firm specializing in the Blasphemy Gospel!

The operation was quite complex in detail, but according to Ashe’s simplified understanding, Annan switched their shifts with those of the palace attendants. The palace attendants took their places sweeping the streets, and they took the palace attendants’ roles at the Court Banquet!

When Annan, with a tone of pride, explained how she cleverly and brilliantly executed this crucial step while resting a hand on his shoulder, Ashe had a sudden strange thought—

If Annan could swap their jobs now, what if the ‘Gospel employee’ system were extended to something like ‘Gospel lives’? Would that mean Annan could swap their lives too?

Of course, Ashe didn’t hold any grudges against Annan. When she approached him to take credit, he even gave her a high-five. Ashe’s thoughts were mere speculation, after all. Currently, the ‘Gospel employee’ system was limited to Nabistin and hadn’t spread nationwide to allow everyone the “automated” work experience, let alone evolve into a ‘Gospel life’ system.

He was merely terrified by the hidden potential.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Getting the funeral team out of the ‘Gospel employee’ state was even simpler.

Because ‘Gospel employees’ weren’t always on autopilot; unexpected incidents that even the Gospel couldn’t handle were bound to occur. For example, in Belldate’s Wonderland World, if a child asked a worker where the restroom was, they’d get an instant answer. But if the child asked, “How do I get to my sister’s heart?” or “Can you swing with me?” the Gospel wouldn’t intervene but would switch the employee’s status to manual service, letting them handle it themselves.

Annan spent some Gospel points, making the Gospel believe they were dealing with difficult customers. Hence, the funeral team’s work status was locked in manual mode, allowing them to retain their self-awareness.

With a bit of simple makeup and disguise, Ashe and his team gained easy access to the Royal Palace. It was the smoothest and safest infiltration they had ever experienced. There were no Elf patriarchs with red hats to beat them up, nor any blue-haired wealthy women with Bluebeard forcing them to work. It was as effortless as entering the neighboring community.

Swapping jobs, switching states… Although Annan exploited these two loopholes at different costs, the core idea was the same: follow the Gospel’s rules, utilize its rules, and satisfy its rules.

“Deceiving the Gospel isn’t hard,” Annan once discreetly told Ashe her secret, “It’s a lot like you. As long as you meet its needs, it will lie down submissively and let us manipulate it.”

At that moment, Ashe couldn’t tell if Annan was mocking, flirting, or being serious.

Even though Annan had perfected every detail of the plan as much as possible, errors were still inevitable in actual execution—

They couldn’t leave.

More accurately, they couldn’t abandon their posts and had to faithfully fulfill their duties as attendants during work hours.

According to the original plan, they were supposed to infiltrate the Royal Palace and immediately break into the princess’s boudoir, then try to return to the inn to celebrate before dinner. However, they ended up staying in the banquet hall, providing manual service to the guests.

The reason was simple: the Gospel didn’t allow employees to slack off. Even though the Gospel allowed them to switch back to manual service, this didn’t mean it truly granted them freedom. Just as a boss might occasionally come to the office to ensure you’re working efficiently, a Gospel that could monitor the entire Kingdom wasn’t going to let directly governed employees leave their posts.

When Annan and the team opted for quick part-time work through Ark Square, they entered into a Pact with the Gospel. Even as part-timers, they had a detailed labor contract. Under the binding effects of the Pact, they couldn’t engage in activities unrelated to their job.

Here’s a brief explanation of what ‘can’t’ means under the Pact: it doesn’t involve indirect coercion through mental suggestions, electric shocks, or intimidation; it’s very direct. It feels like when you have to pee, and you realize that any movement might make you wet yourself—you immediately clench your sphincter, not daring to move and quite literally ‘can’t’ move.

When Ashe attempted to slack off, his entire nervous system would send out warning signals, physiologically preventing further actions until he returned to his post.

This area of deep tissue influence belonged to the Physical Sect, an area neither Igor, Harvey, nor Annan could handle.

However, to be on the safe side, Annan had assigned them all very easy tasks. If they were just a bit clever, they could pretend to be regular employees. For example, Ashe’s position as a ‘cake server’—who would eat cake at such an event, anyway?

So when Ashe was dragged into the isolated restroom by Qenna, he was still utterly confused. “How on earth did you recognize me? Even if I was moving a bit slowly, it shouldn’t have immediately made you think it was me, right?”

Ashe wasn’t trying to be cute; he was genuinely confident.

Not to mention that the “Twisting Mask” can distort any detection methods, Ashe also has the silver blessing “Observer’s Visage” to lower his presence, the golden blessing “Listener’s Woe” to reduce hostility, and the “Mysterious Power” that allows him to seamlessly adopt any identity…

In simpler terms, when trying to identify Ashe, you essentially have to go through four levels of checks:

Did you use a spirit’s miracle?

Yes, but the result is altered by the “Twisting Mask.” If no, proceed to the next question;

Is your attention focused?

If not, the “Observer’s Visage” makes you overlook Ashe. If yes, proceed to the next question;

Are you focusing on him with hostility or goodwill?

If hostile, the “Listener’s Woe” dissipates your hostility. If only goodwill, proceed to the next question;

Are his actions inconsistent with his identity?

If consistent, the “Mysterious Power” makes you believe he is who he appears to be. If inconsistent, you might start to have a slight suspicion.

Honestly, in terms of stealth and disguise, Ashe feels almost unbeatable. No one could possibly break through his four-layered defense. Forget about mere Royal Palace attendants; even if he donned the Empress’s new clothes, people would just think the new Empress’s features were quite lifelike!

The only potential flaw is that from an outsider’s perspective, Ashe is always seen wearing a mask. However, Annan thoughtfully assigned him the position of a cake server, giving the mask a legitimate reason to exist.

Qenna locked the restroom door and opened the Gospel Book, pressing a few buttons slowly. “Violet Iris.”

“Huh?”

“Violet Iris. Top notes of lemon, middle notes of violet, and base notes of cedar, but with Annan’s personal scent mixed in.” Qenna glanced at him. “You reek of Annan’s perfume. I could smell it the moment I got close.”

“But it could also be Banjeet or Igor—”

“Even though you might not notice, Banjeet has a distinct body scent. After all, he made it onto the Weave ranking list as an Echoer fifty years ago purely because of his looks,” Qenna remarked, adjusting her attire in the mirror. “As for the others… Annan’s relationship with them isn’t strong enough for the scent to stick to them, right? By the way, getting a hint of the top and middle notes might be easy, but the base notes? That requires over ten hours of intimate contact.”

Ashe’s face turned pale, and he hurriedly explained, “I actually haven’t—”

“Haven’t what?” Qenna emphasized, smiling. “I’m not accusing you of anything. Why do you need to explain yourself to me? Anyway, that ‘haven’t’ is quite telling. I can roughly guess how you’ve been spending the past few days.”

Ashe awkwardly replied, “I just didn’t want you to misunderstand…”

“Why are you worried about my misunderstanding? Because I’m Annan’s mother? Or…” Qenna took a step closer, forcing Ashe against the wall, “…are you concerned about how I perceive you?”

The Elf’s breath brushed against his face, making Ashe’s entire body tense up. He couldn’t tell if it was the Pact restraining him or just pure nervousness. He wanted to slip away, but as an attendant and Qenna being a guest, she could pull him into any room under the guise of ‘service.’ Moreover, Qenna had already blocked all his escape routes.

“This is different from the time at the Senhaeser Building, and unlike the Belldate manor,” she whispered, her voice like tentacles invading his ear. “It’s just you and me here; no one else around. Plus, I’ve just set up a Silence Barrier, meaning no one will hear a thing no matter what happens.”

“So…”

Ashe’s heart pounded wildly as he watched Qenna’s right hand gently touch his neck. She leaned in and whispered in his ear:

“Tell me your plan.”