Witch’s Night: Chapter 42 The Use of a Black Card…
Cantar Parish, one of the parishes closest to Noah’s core area, “The Ark.”
While Luo Yan and the others were wandering around the outer parishes of Noah, Chris and Tina had already returned here.
As a hereditary noble family passed down through Noah for a thousand years, the Lequistas held the territory of three entire parishes in Noah.
Everything within the territory was completely controlled by the Lequistas. Even if the Noah Church wanted to do anything within these three parishes, they had to inform the Lequistas in advance.
Besides the Lequistas, there were two other hereditary noble families remaining in Noah, but they were smaller in scale, each holding only two parishes.
The parishes held by these hereditary nobles weren’t like the Lower District that Luo Yan was currently visiting. They were truly prosperous areas, and the annual output of each parish was enough to support a mega-city the size of Yan City.
Note that it’s “support,” not “equivalent to.”
If a comparison were to be made, it might take three Yan Cities to equal one parish.
From this, one could imagine how insignificant the price Yan City paid to obtain the “Ice Coffin Weapon,” One’s body, from Noah was, practically a free gift.
The three hereditary noble families, the Noah Church, and the unapproachable Noah Holy Church formed the current structure of Noah.
It could be said that Noah was almost equivalent to a Lannister that hadn’t had its balance disrupted by Norian, only much more stable.
Of course, these were the publicly known circumstances. In reality, because of the transcendent existence of the Noah Holy Church, the situation in Noah was far more complex than in other mega-cities.
Who would have thought that the Lequista family would actually be the secret guards of the Saint “Shadow”?
To be precise, this status was somewhat low. Even if the Saints were unapproachable, having the core members of an entire hereditary noble family become secret guards sounded a bit far-fetched, let alone for just one Saint.
Tracing back, this went back to the early days of Noah’s founding. Because it was too long ago and secretive, even the head of the Lequista family knew very little about it, only that it was an ancestral instruction passed down from the first generation head.
Of course, the fact that the Lequistas were still following “Shadow” to this day wasn’t just because of ancestral instruction.
As for whether the other two families had similar secrets, it was even more unclear.
After returning to Cantar Parish, Chris took her little butler to deal with some necessary noble etiquette and social engagements, mostly trivial matters.
And Tina immediately rushed back to the Lequista Manor.
The Lequista Manor was located in the most prime location in Cantar Parish. However, because it hadn’t undergone any large-scale reconstruction since a major renovation hundreds of years ago, it looked somewhat old from the outside.
In this aspect, the Lequista Manor couldn’t compare to the other noble manors in Noah, and even Spencer Manor in Lannister was far more luxurious.
Not everything became more valuable with the passage of time; sometimes the marks left by the erosion of time were more alarming.
In an inconspicuous study within the Lequista Manor, Tina stood in front of the door, took a deep breath, and knocked solemnly.
“Come in.”
A gentle voice from inside the study responded to Tina.
Tina pushed the door open and saw a woman, who looked seven or eight parts similar to her, sitting at the desk, surrounded by piles of documents.
—This woman was Vichy Enar Easton Lequista, the current head of the Lequista family, and also Tina’s older sister. She was currently dealing with some family matters.
From their appearance, Vichy and Tina didn’t look that different, except that Vichy had more wrinkles around her eyes, and her overall temperament seemed gentler.
Vichy was almost fifty years older than Tina. Even though she was a “Peril” level ability user with a lifespan far exceeding that of ordinary people, at this age, the marks left by the cruel passage of time inevitably appeared on her.
As for the age difference… it could only be said that compared to Granny Zoya’s youngest son, who had just turned eighteen this year, a fifty-year age gap didn’t seem like much.
“Tina, how was your trip to Lannister?” Looking at her younger sister, the slightly tired Vichy still showed a faint smile. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Norian, is he still in good health?”
She and Norian were from the same era, and could even be considered peers, so they often interacted… of course, just normal interactions.
“He’s quite robust, looks even better than you.”
Tina casually picked up Vichy’s cup and drank it all in one gulp, exhaling,
“But I encountered quite a bit of trouble, and coincidentally ran into Chris, who was invited to Lannister… Anyway, it wasn’t very pleasant.”
The sudden disaster in Lannister really startled Tina. It wasn’t that the disaster itself was too terrifying, but rather… it was everywhere.
Cultists seemed to pop up out of nowhere, and Tina had even interacted with some of them. They all seemed like ordinary, normal people.
In Tina’s impression, cultists were usually unreasonable and fanatical, and even if they used human appearances to hide among the crowd, they could still be distinguished with careful observation.
But that wasn’t the case in Lannister at that time.
A kind shopkeeper, a gentle young mother, a well-mannered noble… They had various identities in their daily lives, but when the disaster struck, they all transformed into inhumane cultists without exception.
Lannister was a remarkable mega-city, after all. Its astonishing growth in recent centuries had even alarmed Noah, yet this still happened.
What about other mega-cities?
Or even… Noah?
Seeing Tina’s expression, Vichy knew that her younger sister must have a lot on her mind.
She picked up the kettle, refilled the cup with water, and pushed it towards Tina,
“Don’t worry, Tina, Saint Shadow also went to Lannister. Since she hasn’t said anything, there’s no need for us to be anxious.”
“She… forget it.”
Tina felt a bit exasperated by this newly appointed (meaning just a few decades ago) Saint Shadow. When she was a Shadow Guard, it was under the previous “Shadow,” who had a rigid and serious personality, completely opposite to this one.
This one wasn’t very reliable…
“It seems you have quite a few complaints about our Saint Shadow,” the smile on Vichy’s lips widened, and she moved aside the documents on her desk and took out another cup. “Tell me, did something interesting happen in Lannister?”
She looked like she wanted to hear some gossip…
Tina twitched the corner of her mouth. The main purpose of her trip was to inform Vichy about what happened in Lannister and her concerns.
After sighing, Tina recounted everything that happened in Lannister to Vichy.
……
After finding a normal restaurant and having a normal meal, Anna sighed in relief that she had finally returned to the human world.
Luo Yan had been struggling with her cooking skills recently, always comparing the food others made with her own.
But the problem was, Luo Yan’s sense of taste itself was flawed, even worse than her sense of aesthetics.
So, the result of this comparison was naturally that her cooking was no worse than anyone else’s.
A truly chilling result…
However, an even more chilling act was yet to come.
After finishing her meal, Luo Yan stood up, took out a black card from her waist, and was about to pay at the counter.
Seeing this, Anna was dumbfounded. This black card was the gift Magistrate Norian gave to Luo Yan as a parting gift from Lannister, a Black Card with unlimited spending.
But the problem was, they were eating at a roadside stall!
Who would take out a Black Card to pay for a roadside stall?!
Not to mention whether it was losing face for Lannister, it was questionable whether the stall owner would even recognize the card…
“Miss Luo Yan, wait!”
Anna stood up and stopped Luo Yan.
“What’s wrong?” Luo Yan asked with a puzzled expression. “Are you still hungry? It’s alright, when we get back, I’ll…”
“No, no, no,” Anna waved her hands repeatedly, then pointed at the Black Card in Luo Yan’s hand. “This card, can’t be used here.”
“Hmm? I remember Magistrate Norian saying it could be used…” Luo Yan frowned slightly. “He even specifically mentioned that it could be used even in Noah, and all expenses would be covered by Lannister. Since it’s free, why not use it?”
“It can be used… but it can’t be used here, or rather, there’s no need.” Anna felt embarrassed. “This Black Card doesn’t just represent unlimited spending, but more importantly, it symbolizes Lannister’s friendship.”
This was a very powerful thing, but powerful things should be used in powerful places, not in small places like this.
But… from the looks of it, Miss Luo Yan really just treated this Black Card as money.
“I see.”
Miss Luo Yan nodded, seemingly understanding… Did she?
“Anyway, I’ll pay for this meal, you can put the Black Card away.” Anna didn’t bother explaining further to Luo Yan and sighed.
“Won’t that be too much of a burden for you?” Luo Yan hesitated. “After all, Lannister gave this to us to use…”
“Not at all, it’s just a small amount of money, I can afford it.” Anna waved her hand dismissively.
She wasn’t Hua Qingling, she wasn’t so poor that she couldn’t even afford a meal.
Anna was a little rich woman. Even in Noah, her wealth wasn’t insignificant, at least equivalent to a well-off family.
After quickly paying the bill, Anna found that Luo Yan and Cecilia had left their seats.
After glancing around, Anna found them. Seemingly because of Cecilia, the two were standing near a tanghulu (candied hawthorn) vendor.
Cecilia’s yearning gaze was evident, and Luo Yan also seemed quite interested.
“Tanghulu…”
It was a specialty of the Yan City region, Dragon City, Jade City, and other eastern mega-cities.
Anna had naturally seen it many times and wasn’t surprised at all.
But Luo Yan rarely went out shopping when she was in Yan City, and Cecilia had never left the old residential building since she was young.
Therefore, they were both attracted by this glistening candied snack, exuding a sweet aroma.
“I also haven’t had it in a long time, let’s buy a few skewers and relive the taste.”
Actually, Anna wasn’t very old, which could be seen from her appearance.
It was just that her early experiences as a refugee, and later managing her tailoring business, made her seem older.
Seeing the way Luo Yan and Cecilia looked at the tanghulu, Anna was inexplicably reminded of some past memories.
Some bad, some good.
But they were all in the past… now, it was quite good.
Anna couldn’t help but smile faintly and walked towards them.
Then she saw Luo Yan once again take out the Black Card, intending to pay.
“Miss! Luo! Yan!”
She immediately dashed over and pressed the Black Card, half-drawn from Luo Yan’s hand, back down.
“Anna, what’s wrong?” Luo Yan asked in surprise. “Can’t it be used here either?”
“No!” Anna said, slightly breathless. “I… I’ll pay.”
“Th-this… It’ll be too much of a burden for you, can’t we just use Lannister’s money?” Luo Yan still couldn’t understand.
She clearly hadn’t realized the true meaning of this Black Card, or rather… Lannister really just intended for Miss Luo Yan not to be financially constrained.
But it wasn’t supposed to be used like this…
There was still a long way to go before Miss Luo Yan could understand complex interpersonal relationships.
“It’s… just a small amount, a small amount of money.”
Anna took out a few Noah shields, which she had prepared before coming, from her pocket and handed them to the dumbfounded vendor.
“And one more thing, Miss Luo Yan, it’s best not to casually take out this Black Card, especially in places like this.”
In a mixed market like this, there were inevitably shady characters. Although Anna felt that no shady character would dare to target Miss Luo Yan, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Anna wasn’t sure what uncontrollable consequences would occur if the Lannister Black Card was stolen, so it was best to prevent this from happening.
“Alright, I understand.”
Luo Yan replied, took the tanghulu from the vendor, and took a big bite right in the middle.
Seeing this, Cecilia also took a bite in the same manner.
The two happily munched away. Regardless of the taste, this novel experience was quite enjoyable.
Anna silently watched the two of them eating with crumbs all over their faces, thinking that this wasn’t the proper way to eat tanghulu.
But then she thought, it was just a small detail, there was no need to nag like an old woman.
Thinking of this, the corners of Anna’s mouth curved up slightly, and she also took a big bite from the middle, just like them.
“Delicious, right?”
Anna asked.
“Delicious!”
Cecilia immediately raised her hand and replied.
“It doesn’t seem to have much flavor… But it’s not bad.”
Luo Yan nodded indifferently.
