Exploring Technology in a Wizard World-Chapter 280 - 279 Black Cat

Chapter 280: Chapter 279: Black Cat

Chapter 280 -279: Black Cat

Several days later.

Night.

The chamber.

It was a gloomy and oppressive chamber, buried deep underground to avoid detection. In the center of the chamber, there stood a black, elongated table, on which sat a silver candelabra, sparsely fitted with a few candles. The lit candles flickered unsteadily, like the gasping breaths of the dying, rendering the chamber exceedingly dim.

In the dim light, surrounding the table in the center of the chamber, were more than a dozen high-backed leather chairs, now less than half occupied. One individual sat at the end of the table, and five others sat along the sides. Each person was clad in a thick cloak, their faces hidden within the hoods, extremely cautious, engaged in some discussion.

The person sitting at the end of the table, seemingly of slightly higher status, spoke first with a voice that carried a measure of steadiness, “Gentlemen, speak of the recent happenings.”

After the first speaker, there followed an extended silence—a strange and suffocating silence—as if the people in the chamber had vanished in an instant.

After a long, tedious wait, the second speaker broke the silence, clearing his throat lightly, his voice slightly hoarse, “I’ll start. Well, things on my side are reasonably okay. We lost one member, but recruited three new ones; one of the newcomers has potential worth cultivating. That’s all.”

With the second speaker’s report finished, silence fell upon the chamber once again.

After another lengthy pause, the third speaker’s voice came, somewhat shrill, “The situation on my side is dire. We’ve lost four members, one of whom was a key figure we’ve cultivated for many years. As for new recruits, there are prospects, but all are under evaluation; it has yet to be decided whether they will be taken in.”

Silence.

The fourth speaker said, “My area is neither good nor bad. Gained a new member but also lost an old one. Done.”

Silence.

The fifth speaker said, “My situation is the same as before, no deaths, no new people.”

After the fifth speaker concluded, silence reemerged, this time enduring without interruption.

Finally, the five who had spoken all turned their collective gaze towards the last person who persisted in silence.

The first speaker, with a unique tone of composure, inquired, “Catherine, aren’t you going to share?”

“Heh,” the sixth speaker finally spoke, a woman’s voice sharp with scorn, “Do I need to make a report? You all already know what happened. A damned traitor nearly exposed me; if it weren’t for timely action, I most likely wouldn’t be here.

I don’t want to talk about the losses—we’ve had enough. In any case, if you don’t support me, I might as well retire.

Speaking of which, it wouldn’t be so bad, would it? After all, what have we always been doing if not preparing for retirement? Skulking underground like moles, trembling in concealment, too scared to show ourselves for fear of being noticed. Pinning our hopes on an impossibility, waiting for a miracle to happen. Heh.”

After the woman finished, there was silence for a moment before the first speaker spoke again, his voice gentle, “Catherine, it seems you have some grievances.”

“Am I the only one with grievances?” the sixth speaker, the woman, retorted, “I’d like to ask everyone seated here, after all this time adhering to our so-called rules of seclusion, waiting hopelessly, hasn’t anyone felt something is amiss?

This traitor incident has made it clear to me, continuing like this is a dead end. If we aren’t killed by those outside, we’ll be done in by our own.”

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“Catherine, I know the matter of the traitor has angered you,” the first speaker said, his voice steady, with little emotional fluctuation, “but some things cannot be so easily changed. The rule of seclusion was established because we were weak. Had the other wizard organizations discovered us, it’s very likely they would have united to eliminate us, and then we would have been left without any hope.

Now, although our strength has grown with development, we are still somewhat fragile compared to the other wizard organizations. Take the White Stone Tower Wizard Association, for example—we are no match for them.

Therefore, we need to continue to be patient and keep accumulating strength until the appropriate time arrives, until we unravel the secret that the great entity left us and obtain his treasure. Then we will have enough strength to announce our existence to everyone else. At that time, we can appear in this world openly and restore the former glory that great entity once had.”

“I understand the principle,” a sharp female voice rose, “but the question is, how long will this take?”

“A very long time,” the first speaker said. “So long that perhaps none of us will see it realized in our lifetimes. That’s why, apart from the rule of seclusion, the second rule of our Council is patience and a strict prohibition against exposing ourselves, to ensure the long continuation of our Council. Therefore, we will administer severe punishment to any traitor who attempts to expose our Council.”

“Severe punishment? How severe? Kill him?” the woman asked incredulously. “But this traitor is different, he’s the master’s student. If we really killed him, the master would disagree, right?”

“You are mistaken,” Catherine said. “We treat all traitors the same, even if they are the master’s students.”

“Oh?”

“If you don’t believe me, we can proceed with the Judgement now,” the first speaker declared.

“That would be best,” the woman said.

“Then let’s begin,” the first speaker said, and suddenly the candlelight on the table brightened, dispelling the darkness of the chamber and illuminating its corners.

In the corner, a person could be seen tightly bound to a chair, unable to move. Several Magic Runes engraved on silver needles pierced his body, disrupting any Mana circulation and preventing the casting of Spells.

The person tied up in the chair was covered in blood, his true face indiscernible, but he seemed very young. His eyes were wide with anger and hatred as he stared intently at the six people sitting around the long table, struggling to open his mouth to say something. But his mouth seemed sewn shut by an invisible force, unable to open at all.

The sixth speaker, a woman, looked and spoke out, “Have we used a Silence Spell on him?”

“Yes, he was far too noisy,” the first speaker affirmed. “But now that we are to judge him, according to the rules, he has the right to defend himself.”

As the first speaker spoke, he waved his hand, the air stirred slightly, and the person tied to the chair suddenly opened his mouth and screamed out, “Damn you, you bunch of bastards, let me go! Otherwise, when my teacher finds out what you’ve done to me, you’ll all be dead!”

The first speaker looked at the person bound to the chair and spoke slowly, “Keli, do you still not understand? Even your teacher can’t save you from what you’ve done.”

“What have I done?”

“Betrayal, exposing the Council’s existence.”

“Nonsense, I didn’t!” the person bound to the chair defended loudly. “You are framing me; I have never done such things!”

“Slap! Bastard! If you didn’t, how did my subordinates die?” the sixth speaker woman slammed the table and shouted angrily.

“I…” The voice of the person in the chair faltered, but in the next moment, returned to normal and he yelled, “I don’t know! Your subordinates’ deaths have nothing to do with me! You’re framing me; you just want to go after my teacher! I warn you, if you dare to harm me, my teacher will not let you off once he finds out! Let me go, let me see my teacher!”

“Shut up, Keli!” Suddenly, a commanding voice rang out. An elderly man in a Black Robe stepped into the chamber, cradling a sleek, shiny black cat in his arms.