"Indeed, I do know how to contact Lady Hecate, Your Excellency," Ophelia calmly admitted.
In a single sentence, the Witch Mother not only revealed that she had some relation with the Great Devil Hecate but also showed some familiarity with her.
"Sure enough, that was the case," Narvim acknowledged with a soft sigh, unsurprised by the Witch Mother's answer. He had been mentally prepared for it.
"If you don't mind me asking, Your Excellency, I'm quite curious about how you concluded I knew of a way to contact Lady Hecate?" Ophelia wondered with interest.
"Hahaha, this Lord is only here on orders from his Supreme Leader. If not for the Supreme Leader, this Lord would not have suspected your connection with the Great Devil Hecate," Narvim lightly chuckled, not daring to claim the credit for himself.
"Oh?" Ophelia calmly smiled before saying, "Now, I am a little interested in your Supreme Leader. Allow me to rephrase my question – How did your Supreme Leader arrive at the conclusion that I knew how to contact Lady Hecate?"
"This, I can answer. The Supreme Leader has once explained it to me. So, I recount it for you, Lady Ophelia," Narvim casually mentioned before saying, "The Supreme Leader's first point of suspicion was your high cultivation at the Pseudo-Transcendent Rank."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Although you have once told me that you are a close retainer of the Rank 7 Storm Calamity Witch and a Rank 6 Divine Being in your previous life, this doesn't explain how you achieved your high cultivation."
"Sure, you have rich knowledge to enhance your magical power. However, the Freedom Federation is very far away from the dimensional crack. Access to mana should be quite limited. In fact, there shouldn't be enough mana to support your cultivation. All mana stones should be heavily regulated by the authorities in the Freedom Federation."
"You could argue that you went to Gehenna to accumulate your mana and cultivate, but where exactly in Gehenna is it safe for you to do so? Unless you had a patron from Gehenna supporting you, it is almost impossible for you to survive in such a dangerous land full of demons, with low cultivation, no less."
"Of course, you could also say that you weren't from the Freedom Federation, that you cultivated to a higher rank in a different country closer to the dimensional crack. However, High Witches outside the seven witch kingdoms are extremely rare."
"Furthermore, with women's lower status in most countries, it's almost a miracle if they even have any freedom. Obtaining mana stones shouldn't have been easy under such conditions."
"More importantly, there's another point of doubt – Creating a portal to Gehenna isn't something a Pseudo-Transcendent Witch should be able to do, even with Ancient Magic. So, how could you have gone to Gehenna to cultivate, regardless of your power at the time?"
"Creating a dimensional portal connecting Pangea and Gehenna isn't a feat even Great Devils could accomplish easily—at least, among the three hostile Great Devils; none have the ability to do so with ease."
"But if it is Great Devil Hecate, the master of sorcery, witchcraft, or magic in general, it becomes a different story, right? If it's Great Devil Hecate connecting Pangea and Gehenna with small dimensional portals and offering refuge to witches, everything seems to fit perfectly, like puzzle pieces coming together."
"Another point of doubt is your title as Witch Mother. Great Devil Hecate is also revered as the mother of witches. Is it only a coincidence that you share the same title? Or something deeper than that?" Narvim added.
Ophelia laughed and said, "It almost sounded like you were implying I am Great Devil Hecate's incarnation or something, Your Excellency. However, I have already sworn my true identity to you under Contract Magic."
"There was no falsehood in that. So, don't you think this part is contradictory, Your Excellency?" Ophelia asked.
"Indeed, my Supreme Leader had also thought about this point," Narvim acknowledged before mentioning, "However, your death has always been a point of doubt. Why would a Rank 7 Calamity Witch's close retainer, a Rank 6 Divine Witch, suddenly die and reincarnate?"
"Lady Ophelia being the close retainer of the Storm Calamity Witch may be true, but that doesn't stop you from having other identities, no? For example, being the clone or incarnation of another Calamity Witch. Maybe the current you and Great Devil Hecate are all clones or incarnations of a powerful Calamity Witch."
"After all, Great Devil Hecate has mastered so many laws. Her overwhelming talent for comprehending laws makes it hard to believe she is only a Rank 6 Divine Being," Narvim added.
After Ophelia heard that, she couldn't help but shed tears of laughter. It was so amusing that she couldn't stop laughing for a good five minutes.
"Hahaha, please excuse me, Your Excellency. It was just too funny," Ophelia wiped her tears of laughter before replying, "You have such a rich imagination, Your Excellency. Even I almost believed it."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"However, your doubts are not unfounded. Even I find Lady Hecate's high talent for comprehending laws to be unnatural for a Rank 6 Divine Being. I can't confirm if she is just the clone or incarnation of some Calamity Witch, but I can definitely confirm we are unrelated in this aspect."
"Hahaha, if I were anyone else, I would have also believed I was Lady Hecate's incarnation or something as well after listening to your words, Your Excellency," Ophelia said with amusement.
"In the end, just what did your Supreme Leader conclude my relationship was with Lady Hecate?"
"Actually, my Supreme Leader was unable to conclude your exact relationship with the Great Devil Hecate," Narvim admitted before saying, "We only know you must share some connection."
"My Supreme Leader guessed you might be under a contract with her. That way, you could borrow Great Devil Hecate's divine powers to create the dimensional portals yourself," Narvim added with a sharp look.
Ophelia didn't show much reaction under Narvim's scrutinizing gaze.
She simply smiled and said, "If you know the whole situation in the Great Ratholos Empire, you should also have another suspect for being Lady Hecate's Devil's Contractor."
"In that case, why would your Supreme Leader still suspect me of being Hecate's Devil's Contractor and send you to meet me?" Ophelia asked curiously.
"I also wondered the same and asked him about it. However, he also asked me this – What rule stated that a Great Devil couldn't have more than one Devil's Contractor at once?" Narvim recalled.