An Invitation from the Texas Family (Continued)

But in Lappland's eyes, there were only two groups of people on their side.

Lady Maria, and everyone else besides her.

This personality trait led Lappland to disobey Celinina's commands, and sometimes even oppose her for the sake of opposing her.

Although she ultimately succeeded in completing each mission, her repeated acts of rebellion left Celinina feeling helpless.

But since things have come to this, we can only take it one step at a time...

The two quickly returned home after completing their mission.

At this time, they were living in an area inside the Gray Hall branch.

More than three years have passed since that massive earthquake, the largest but least widespread in Siracusa's history.

In the past three years, Volsinii... or rather the entirety of Siracusa, has undergone tremendous changes.

The most obvious one of these was the emergence of the Gray Hall.

Although the Gray Hall was established more than 50 years ago, the public has only really known about and felt its existence in the last three years.

Starting with the Volsinii Great Rescue, people discovered that more and more Gray Hall branch were appearing in Siracusa.

Alongside this rise, Court were established with Laterano serving as temporary judges.

They encountered many unusual problems in the first half year of their start-up, but as time went by, the legal system became more and more perfect, and everyone really realized one thing.

The era of family-based structures is coming to an end.

The family naturally disagreed with this situation.

But clearly, the situation is no longer under their control.

The Volsinii incident made everyone realize that family might not be their only option, and that Gray Hall could better protect their safety.

More and more people are choosing to attach themselves to the Gray Hall and ostracize the family.

Although some families still survived in Siracusa, they had clearly lost their former authority.

However, there are exceptions.

The Bellone Family, once one of the twelve families, became the local power in Volsinii after the incident, supporting most of the restoration work on the land. They also reduced many taxes due, considering the severe damage suffered by everyone. After the rise of the Gray Hall, they assumed the responsibility of mayor of Volsinii and the surrounding territories.

The other one is Saluzzo.

Saluzzo is also an old family in Siracusa. In this incident, they, like the Texas Family, were among the ones who contributed the most. At the first moment, they mobilized a large amount of medical and food supplies and sent them to Volsinii at a speed that no one could imagine.

This earned them considerable prestige in Siracusa.

This presented the Saluzzo Family with another great opportunity.

As for the Texas Family... they remain the same as before, with their main base in Columbia and rarely getting involved in Siracusa.

As for the other scattered small families, they each played important roles in their own territories.

Although they don't look much different from before,... now, a Blades hangs over their heads.

The Night Watcher.

This is a better-sounding name that the Inquisitors of the Gray Hall chose when facing the world.

After all, the word "Inquisitors" sounds somewhat bloodthirsty, while the Night Watcher is more about protection and safeguarding.

The inner workings of the Night Watcher were unknown to others, but they did know that Night Watcher leader was a powerful and charismatic woman...

Legend has it that the woman was a Blood Demon three meters tall, with a face like a devil's. One glance from her could be mesmerizing, and a touch from her would make one completely submit to her... Even the hardest stone would bloom under her gaze.

Although everyone knows this is an absolute exaggeration, and it is clear that it is impossible for the infamous Sarkaz Blood Demon to appear next to Father Agniel, who has Sankta.

But it was precisely these rumors that made them even more curious.

So what is this mysterious woman doing at this moment?

She is reading a book...

"You're back?"

As the leader of the Night Watcher and one of the invisible founders of the Gray Hall, Maria also had her own private office for reasons that could not be spoken of but were mandated by Father Agniel.

It occupies more than 300 square meters, with one side of a wall covered with paintings and the other side of a beautiful floor-to-ceiling window that allows her to see the entire city.

At the far end of the door, Maria sat behind a beautiful stone-painted wooden table, with bookshelves piled up on both sides and behind her.

These weren't just for decoration; Maria actually saw them all... and only a small portion of them.

According to the two little ones, Maria has emptied her room to store the books she has read and annotated.

His strong erudition left a deep impression on the two girls.

So much so that when they met Maria, in addition to their reverence for their teacher, they also felt admiration for someone so outstanding.

Although the two girls had completely suppressed their voices, Maria, an expert hunter, could detect even the slightest change in the airflow.

The two girls were prepared for Maria's keen perception.

Celinina took out the signboard and placed it on the table in front of Maria.

Maria frowned slightly after examining the area for a while.

She used her thumbnail to cut her index finger and pressed a drop of blood onto the blurry photograph.

But just after her blood dripped onto the photograph, it suddenly burst into flames.

"Rottish ..."

Maria squinted and murmured.

"Um?"

No, it's nothing.

Although the two little ones have made rapid progress in their abilities under her command, Maria still doesn't want them to participate in her war.

She squinted, pondered for a moment, and then tossed the now-incapacitated photograph aside.

This isn't the first time something like this has appeared.

Ever since she defeated Rottish, strange things have been circulating within Volsinii.

They are usually harmless, but when activated under certain conditions, the holder gains strange abilities.

Maria initially thought it was some kind of unique feature of this world.

But after she discovered that it carried the scent of Rottish, she became wary.

Unfortunately, perhaps because Maria crippled him so badly, Maria still cannot pinpoint the exact location of the other party and can only determine that the other party is still in Volsinii based on her own abilities.

It was for this reason that Maria lingered and did not leave.

This has created a peculiar sight: every Volsinii has noticed that on the day of a total lunar eclipse, a warm, fluorescent white moon rises over Volsinii...

This also symbolizes that Maria still maintains control of the territory within Volsinii.

After a moment's thought, Maria looked at the report submitted by Celinina and nodded slightly.

"You did a great job... girl."

"Um!"

Although they felt awe for Maria's existence, they also felt a unique excitement and exhilaration when they received Maria praise.

Celinina, in particular, blushed deeply after receiving praise from Maria, looking shy and embarrassed.

But Maria's next words made her look a little embarrassed.

"I'd be more satisfied if you could remember not to smoke..."

"Uh... um..."

Lappland, standing to the side, scoffed and turned his head away.

But his eyes kept darting towards Maria.

"You're excellent too, Lappland ... Of course, it would be even better if you could avoid getting injured next time."

"I know~"

Lappland was also somewhat helpless; she was like a child who had done something wrong, carefully hiding her wounds.

This unusual occurrence did not escape Maria's notice.

Three years have allowed several people to forge extremely complex relationships with each other.

At least from Celinina's perspective, she was Maria's obedient and sensible student, while Lappland was an awkward student who wanted Maria's attention but always caused trouble.

As for Ms. Maria... she's more complicated. Sometimes she acts like a strict father, constantly pushing the two of them toward their goals, even at the cost of their lives.

But sometimes, she is like a gentle mother, embracing you without saying a word, warming you with her tender heart and soul.

This made it difficult for Celinina to describe her feelings upon seeing Ms. Maria.

She both feared his sternness and longed for the warmth she rarely experienced.

Celinina glanced at Lappland, who was grumbling, and shook her head helplessly.

"If there's nothing else, Ms. Maria, we'll be taking our leave now."

As she spoke, she tried to pull Lappland away.

But at that moment, Maria suddenly raised her hand.

"Wait a moment."

"Um?"

Celinina turned around in confusion.

Maria, meanwhile, precisely pulled out an envelope from the pile of documents beside her and handed it to her.

"This is..."

"It's from the Texas Family. They say they have something to discuss and hope you can return home as soon as possible."

Maria's voice remained calm and indifferent as always.

This reassured Celinina somewhat.

After thinking for a moment, she didn't try to hide anything and opened the envelope in front of the two of them, allowing everyone to read the words on it.

As the fluent and elegant words slowly unfolded from the text, the expressions on everyone's faces began to change to varying degrees...

So... you're planning to go back this month?

Walking down the street, Lappland diligently carried supplies for Celinina while asking her questions out of curiosity.

"Hmm." Celinina nodded slightly, her expression somewhat complicated.

This is the third day.

Ever since that night when she received the letter about her hometown from Ms. Maria, Celinina had been looking restless.

Yesterday, she finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked Maria for permission to go home for a month.

This greatly surprised Lappland.

In his memory, Celinina's diligence was something he himself acknowledged.

Even he himself sometimes had to take leave and temporarily stop his work Night Watcher due to various family matters.

But as the eldest daughter of the Texas Family of similar size, Celinina seemed to have completely forgotten about her family, never taking a single day off, and either working or training with Maria.

She maintained this high-intensity lifestyle for three whole years without wavering.

Now, just because of a letter, I have to go back?

This surprised Lappland.

So after careful consideration, she decided to leave with him.

Of course, the proud Lappland would never admit that this was her own idea, but the understanding Maria took the initiative to suggest that the two of them walk together.

As for the reason... does Ms. Maria even need a reason?!

Just do as I say!