Witch Hunter: Lord of Lust and Sin

"How did it go?"

After the two settle down, Kyla starts off by asking about the recent mission.

"Just another bastard into kids, the only good result was that most of the kids were not harmed "too much", other than that, it was just exhausting"

Ever since Tanya had returned from the Philippines, Kyla was one of the few people who had become her friends.

Though she did have friends and other acquaintances, those friends of hers had long created a distance between them.

It was one thing if they met Tanya when she was already the leader of Nova Munda but many of her friends had known her since before she reached her position.

While they were still able to hold relaxed conversations and meetings, even in private, her friends that treated her like a close associate had already created a wall between them.

Kyla on the other hand, despite not being someone with high standing in the mystical world, was akin to the "daughter of a Billionaire".

While Kyla did not officially hold any title that would match that of Tanya’s, her contract with the Goddess had given her authority.

The witches that had treated her as a tool, a bargaining chip to use against Richard had now gone silent.

None dared to treat her badly or have negative sentiments or ideas about her.

It was one thing to anger Richard and another thing to offend an actual deity.

The Goddess who had assisted Salem had long become an important figure.

In hopes of getting a contract with her, the witches were treating Kyla with extreme care and respect.

Of course, the fact that the Goddess also made a contract with Richard had already been spread.

After all, that connection was one of the reasons why Tanya was able to meet with Kyla.

If the connection between the Goddess and Richard was kept a secret, Tanya would have never been allowed to meet with her newfound friend.

"So the kids are being sent to the orphanage?"

Kyla asked, while unaware of the actual actions taken in the project and all the important information, she was still aware of the moves that Salem was taking.

Of course, her source of information came from both Salem and Tanya.

In fact, Salem was trying desperately to match the information that was given by Tanya. But ever since Tanya and the Goddess had spotted the "bugs" that were left in Kyla’s room for surveillance, Salem had stopped trying to hide information from Kyla.

They did ensure that their stories lined up with Tanya by adding another layer of information protection.

In between the general knowledge that iis shared with the rest of the organizations, both Salem and Nova Munda. The level that was created solely for individuals like Kyla was created.

Some pieces of information were still kept secret like those that both Salem and Nova Munda refused to share with each other and those that are only available for the top level leaders.

"Yep, the kids would either be trained as apothecaries or as nuns"

Tanya explained.

There were many types of professions that could be taken in the mystical world even if one did not have the ability to use magic.

Aside from Apothecaries and Nuns, there were also "Secret Seekers", "Phenomena Investigators" and the recently created "Diplomatic Officers".

There were more professions but those were ones that required a certain level of ability in different fields.

Though magic was still not a requirement, it was still something that would be better to have than not.

For example, "Secret Seekers" were investigators of ruins and other similar sites.

Their job was to look for traces of mystics and find out how ancient figures used magic.

While there were faux immortals that had knowledge of the past, their knowledge was limited to the nation or region they were constrained to.

Though unfortunate, one truth that even the mystic world could not escape was the complete loss of various civilizations.

One of those being the Mayan civilization.

While the non-mystic world believed that the civilization still had its descendants and modern day inheritors of their culture had popped up.

The mystic side of things was a different problem altogether.

The Amazon where the Mayan Civilization had once thrived was a place where Non-mystics would have to battle nature just to investigate the hidden history of the region.

But for the mystic side, nature was not that big of an issue. In fact, many spells allowed them easy passage through the dreaded Amazon rainforest.

Many mystics who are even remotely capable of creating salves, poisons and casting simple spells were able to fend off the dangers in the amazon.

Mosquitos that carry disease were repelled by a salve made with powerful herbs that not a single bug could ignore.

Predators were inherently pushed away by the mystical air exuded by those that were bathed in the knowledge of mysticism.

Unlike humans who had gone numb to many of the world’s mystical phenomena, animals were more keen on such cues.

Other issues like flooding and a hostile environment could be resolved by artifacts that work without magic and simple spells that some with low level of talent could cast.

All of that combined made travelling through the Amazon really simple for most trained Secret Seeker but-

Those who had come into contact with mysticism and had bathed themselves in the air of mystics would, like the animals in the amazon, realize the frightening secrets hidden by the many ruins which non-mystics had turned into home bases.

It was something that few tried to think about and further showed the "numbness" to mysticism that was ever present in the non-mystic population.

Imagine a Mayan ruin in the middle of the Amazon, travel to that area would exhaust non-mystics, they arrive at the spot battered and bruised, likely encountering many poisonous and dangerous beasts yet when they reach the ruins deep in the rainforest... instead of a land overflowing with monsters, what you’d find is a lifeless and peaceful ruin.

Despite being overgrown with plantlife, stone monuments and structures being covered in vines and moss- all of these showed that the land was being overtaken by nature yet it wasn’t.

The forest that would have reclaimed any modern city within the span of a decade or two was unable to do the same for the ruins which remained "habitable" save for the moss and vines that lightly covered the structures.

Non-mystics would ignore such a fact and instead find themselves mesmerized by the centuries old ruin that looked like it had been recently abandoned in the last 5 years.

To non-mystics it was ignored, but mystics could feel the distinct air of mysticism that kept the ruins in the state that it was.

Aside from rats, insects and other small mammals that could not perceive the mystic air, the large predators and other intelligent animals had steered clear of the ruins which is what led to the state that they were in.

The Mayan ruins were not the only examples of such things, from the hidden tombs of Asian mystics and rulers that could greatly preserve even bodies for centuries, religious temples that had been lost to time that hold secrets that had been forgotten by the modern church...

Many of these sites had been ignored or taken for granted by non-mystics but with the recent effort to create a bridge between the mystic and non-mystic worlds-

What started as greed for the miraculous medicines that the mystics were capable of creating had now become a huge exchange of knowledge, information and technology.

In the past, Secret Seekers had to sneak into research groups, they had to secretly conduct their investigations while acting as members of the non-mystic research teams.

It was either that or they looked for a different site that is still unknown to the world.

Now?

Secret Seekers were openly researching ruins alongside historians.

Moreover, the exchange of knowledge also helped many of the historians get a clearer picture of the past.

Some things that they simply marked as "unknown" or "possibilities" had been resolved.

Of course, it took some time to confirm the statement of a "mystic who had lived for multiple centuries".

It was especially difficult to explain that the moving puppets were not AI or Robotics but actual magic that imbued a soul into a non-biological entity.

"It’s become quite troublesome hasn’t it?"

Kyla, who had learned of the huge changes occurring all over the world, focused on the topic of the happenings in the US and the nearby regions.

"Ignoring it won’t really make the issue go away"

Nyx, the Goddess who had made a contract with both Richard and Kyla, spoke up.

It was quite obvious that they were trying to ignore the fact that Richard was creating a mystical land in the Philippines and that he was- no, he had been in a war that pitted mystical forces unseen even in the recent conflicts.

Of course, why would Tanya and Kyla want to think about such matters?

They already had their hands full with the shit that was going on in America, Tanya was especially troubled as many of the Nova Munda members had gone to South America and Africa to assist in historical and magical research.

The issue with Richard was just another matter that she wished she could just ignore.

"Well, thinking about it now won’t do you any good as well, though you need to keep it in mind, issues may not pop up in the new few months but Richard is likely to make a big move as early as the start of next year"

Nyx left those words as she vanished once more.

Whether she returned to the Philippines or was out doing whatever it was she was busying herself with was beyond Tanya and Kyla.

"It seems you’re going to be busier huh?"

Kyla joked but Tanya responded with a smirk as she replied-

"Don’t worry, you’ll need to pull some weight soon"

"Huh?"