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There was no other way; the civil service system in the Witch World was just too tough to navigate. With each position being a single slot, vacancies were limited until someone ahead left, creating opportunities for those behind.

If it were human society, with people aging and everything, you could wait it out since, after all, the most pitiful humans can only be Crown Princes for at most sixty or seventy years.

But witches are a long-lived race. Even an ordinary witch has a lifespan of a thousand years, and those who manage to climb to those positions of power could never be just ordinary witches—they must be at least Great Witches. You know, Great Witches are practically immortal.

If it were high-risk military positions you were eyeing, you might just wait for a leader to die on the battlefield one day, creating room for your advancement. But if it's for a secure position managing the internal security of the Witch World's rear...

In short, you'd better find a way to become a Great Witch first so you can live long enough—otherwise, your boss could outlast several of your family generations without retiring.

In the Witch World, it's not hard to become a low-level civil servant since there's always a shortage of grunt workers at the bottom. However, if you're looking to get promoted from those lower ranks and there's no one above to lend you a hand, then all you can wish for is a long life.

Anyway, the thousand-year rise to upper levels that Dorothy imagined would already be king of the grinder's rate of promotion.

And if you're going to grind away at your career, honestly, you'd be better off trying your luck in other fields. Who knows, you might make such an impression that some high-up takes a fancy to you and just decides to parachute you into a high-level position.

Take my own mother, for example. She gained the Dragon King's favor with her outstanding battle merits and remarkable strength and was airlifted straight into place when the previous Grand Judge from the Dragon King Faction retired.

So, rather than toiling away as a low-level bureaucrat accruing seniority, Dorothy thought it more reliable to work hard at her real estate business. If it goes well, she might just get parachuted in as the head of the infrastructure department—who wouldn't be delighted by that?

While lost in these flights of fancy, the homebody witch soon arrived at a long corridor flanked by doors on both sides. She randomly chose one, swiped her Judgment Order on it, and then pushed it open.

It was just like the Any-Door in that classic comic from her previous life—there was just a door separating them, but on each side lay entirely different worlds.

Behind the door was a vista of blue seas and clear skies; a cool sea breeze wafted through, carrying with it the sound of crashing waves. Circling over the relatively calm sea were creatures resembling pterosaurs.

Of course, Dorothy's gaze was almost immediately drawn to the group of beautiful young girls sunbathing on the golden beach or playing games.

Ah, the sunlight is so round—no, I mean, the sun is so bright...

Well, in any case, bikini-clad girls on a summer beach are the best. The only pity is that everyone's face is masked, obscuring their features, which feels a bit odd.

A mask-covered beach swimsuit party? That's the general vibe.

But the homebody witch didn't think too much of it. She stepped through the door and arrived in this little world of her own.

"Tsk, this Conceptual Gate is really something. No side effects from teleporting whatsoever, it's just a shame it's too expensive to produce and can't be popularized."

Standing on the beach and basking in the strong sunshine, Dorothy turned and looked at the door behind her, which had yet to disappear, and thought this to herself.

This Any-Door-like technology was the Witch World's most advanced form of teleportation, with effects that far surpassed the ubiquitous Portals on the streets.

Portals were just an application of Spatial Magic, but the Conceptual Gate, as its name suggests, tapped into the realm of concepts, the so-called Authority of the Gate.

It was a true Divine Artifact that could only be created by a Sage who had grasped the Concept of the Gate and manifested the Authority of the Gate. It seemed like an ordinary door, but in reality, it could connect to any other door in the world, providing an instantaneous arrival at any destination with a door.

For example, Dorothy could directly connect this Conceptual Gate with the door of her room, and upon opening, she would be back in her chamber.

In this sense, it was an extremely convenient tool.

The only regret was that it was too difficult to make, so it couldn't be widely distributed. Only a few significant figures or special departments had a handful of these Conceptual Gates.

Because she had played an instrumental role in uncovering a traitor among the Angel Witches this time, the Judgment Court allotted her access to a Conceptual Gate, to be shared with her followers.

This Conceptual Gate didn't have a physical form but was a conceptual program stored in her Judgment Order. Just by swiping the Judgment Order against anything that could be considered a door, she could use that door as a medium to Summon the Conceptual Gate.

This was also for the convenience of their future missions; after all, some urgent surprise operations don't give you the luxury of finding a Portal for teleportation. Having the Conceptual Gate for an emergency drop-in would be much more convenient.

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"Lord Clown, you've arrived."

"Lord Clown...."

...

When Dorothy made her appearance, the judges who had been relaxing leisurely on the beach immediately took notice of her, and everyone suddenly grew serious. Those who were just in swimsuits now shimmered with magic power as they swiftly donned their standard battle robes.

"Lord Clown, is there another mission?"

Miss Ghost Mask glanced at the documents in Dorothy's hand and asked.

"Yes, the Great Judge of Annihilation has just issued a mission, but it's not urgent, so everyone can rest a bit longer."

Dorothy nodded and said.

"Oh, right, later on, you should all summon some Servant Armies to round up the numbers and boost our presence,"

she added after some thought.

There was no helping it; she had just taken office and hadn't had the time to establish her own Judicators Squad. Her current subordinates were only those new recruits she had enlisted in the past few days, totaling fewer than thirty people.

Although they were promising seeds for the future, relying solely on this small number was a bit of a stretch to support an entire Judicators Squad.

When she had raided the God King Cathedral before, it had been under the emergency conscription of judges from the vicinity of Witch Academy, leveraging her status as the Grand Inquisitor. Otherwise, with her yet-to-be-scaled-up team of confidants, she could not have completed the mission.

However, this time it wasn't a dangerous major mission but instead a reconnaissance mission with the nominal role of bodyguard, which actually meant surveillance. There was no need to initiate a draft; it was enough to make up the numbers with Servant Armies brought by each individual.

Dorothy looked up and around. At the moment, they were on a huge island, with most of the witches leisurely relaxing by the beach, but the island not far away was buzzing with activity, as various Exotics were involved in construction work. These were the Servant Armies brought by the new judges.

"Lord Clown, what kind of mission is it, and what kind of Servant Army should we bring?"

Madeline, wearing the Holy Knight mask, also walked over and asked with such detail.

"A small Angel Delegation from heaven will soon arrive at Witch Academy, and our mission is to act as their escort. While it's called escort duty, it's in fact surveillance. After all, no one would dare to cause trouble, but just in case, you should pick some servants who are strong and clever."

"Hmm, ideally those who appear of normal human size is best, to avoid drawing too much attention,"

Dorothy thought for a bit and then replied.

"Understood."

After listening, the judges each went off to make their preparations.

The Homebody Witch, after some thought, also drew a Summoning circle on the sand.

"Sidwell is always complaining that I don't give her a chance to show her worth; I might as well take her along this time."

She also planned to summon some Moon Rabbits.

She wondered, however, how the Moon Rabbit World was fairing now. Little Five, the Moon God, should be doing well, she guessed.

Dorothy thought curiously and then allowed her will to descend to the Moon God avatar.

....Consciousness descending....