A leisurely afternoon.
Aurelia finished her meal and, with elegant steps, walked beneath the shade of the trees, her dazzling golden hair catching the light, drawing the attention of every passerby to her beauty.
She was immersed in her own thoughts at this moment.
After the attack subsided last night, she quickly returned to the capital and arranged for the Godefel Chamber of Commerce to handle the clean-up of the Demon Cult.
In the lower districts, the Chamber was a giant, its word law—provided there was no Nobility pulling strings behind the scenes.
Things had become exceedingly complicated. Reason told Aurelia that the best course was to negotiate jointly with the Iris Princess, since she was currently leading the purge against the cultists.
But for that woman alone, Aurelia did not want to bow her head.
She sighed and pushed open the door to her office.
As the current student council president, Aurelia still had official duties to deal with, though lately, she had little interest in such affairs.
It’s better to resign sooner rather than later… she thought.
Application for night use of the training grounds… Aurelia glanced at the applicant—Christine. She remembered her somewhat; El admired Christine’s effort.
But with no talent, no matter how hard she tried, it would be to no avail. On that matter, Aurelia had the most authority to speak.
She stamped her approval. The request wasn’t unreasonable.
Soon after, Aurelia’s attention began to drift.
Come to think of it, the last love letter seemed to work well. Should I find time to write another one?
Knock, knock, knock.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
“Come in.” She answered out of habit.
But almost immediately, Aurelia realized it was El—she was intimately familiar with every aspect of El.
She was instantly overwhelmed by the surprise.
“Lia, I need your help.”
It wasn’t the phrase she most wanted to hear, but it was enough.
“Evidence that Pino is colluding with the Demon Cult? On what grounds?”
El had stolen this intelligence from Sainote at the banquet, but he lacked the evidence needed to convict Pino.
El intended to fight the Demon Cult in his own way. The most crucial step was striking at the Nobility backing them.
If Pino could be convicted, the Lavaud family would surely be shaken, and his own pressure would lessen significantly.
Vita placed a hand on her chest: “I sensed it—there’s something wrong with one of the monitoring crystals near the Kenya Pavilion. Its ‘breathing’ is extremely erratic.”
“Monitoring crystal?”
El recalled that the ones who destroyed the two monitoring crystals previously were members of the Lionheart Society. Was it at Pino’s command…?
“That’s right, and besides that, there’s another important clue. I lingered in the area for a long time—almost got taken away as a suspicious person by Cliff… I discovered that several members of the Lionheart Society showed signs of mental damage.”
“Cliff” referred to Kaan Cliff, Earl Cliff’s only son, from a famed assassin family serving the emperor’s dirty work. In the academy, Kaan was the student council’s disciplinary officer.
Secret.
“Hiss—I see, thank you, Vita. The information you provided is very helpful.”
The clues fit together… Pino’s surging magical power, the mental deterioration of the Lionheart Society members—it’s easy to suspect something unspeakable.
The destroyed monitoring crystals… perhaps destroying them wasn’t Pino’s final goal at all, but just one part of his plan.
If the academy’s monitoring crystals were destroyed, it would certainly draw everyone’s attention. Then, if he tampered with some of the other crystals, it would go almost completely unnoticed.
A diversion—this is the ‘shadow under the lamp’. Indeed, no one would expect Pino to be so bold, not just content with destroying two crystals.
“You’re welcome, Senior El. But… how should I put it… you’ve forgiven me, right? I’ve realized my own mistakes.” Vita pressed her palms together and bowed her head.
“Mm, what is it?”
“Though it may be a double standard, I still want to say: if you plan any action, you must let me know… Really, now I completely understand how you feel, Senior El.”
“Of course. I’m not nearly as reckless as you.” El smiled.
“Lia, can you find out what’s wrong with this monitoring crystal?” El asked.
“Indeed… while it usually functions normally, sometimes it malfunctions. Was this done by someone?”
Aurelia carefully inspected the monitoring crystal’s internal structure, her beautiful brow furrowing.
“El, I wanted to say this earlier—this little girl is very special. She seems to have inherited Sorenyas’ legacy, the authority of ‘Greed’. Hiss—no, only a small part of it. In your human terms, you call this a ‘witch’, right?” Angell suddenly spoke.
“What did you say? A demon’s legacy? What’s going on? Explain clearly.” El took it seriously—why had Aurelia suddenly become linked to demons?
“I’ve already made myself clear. As for the rest, I can’t reveal it yet. After I killed Sorenyas, ‘Greed’ leaked into your world, and this lucky little girl happened to obtain a fragment. But refining it is no simple matter.”
“Will there be any hidden dangers?” El asked, worried.
Angell snorted: “For mortals, receiving such a gift is rare enough, yet you still have doubts? That piece of authority is already detached from ‘Greed’—it’s become her personal property.”
“‘Greed’ is the supreme authority of alchemy; it can easily disrupt the balance of alchemy. Sorenyas was utterly squandering it. In my opinion, this girl has great potential.”
El’s gaze toward Aurelia grew complicated.
Come to think of it, they really were too alike. Even their talents had been restricted by the machinations of demons.
Angell whispered: “Don’t worry, El. With the great Angell at your side, our power is unmatched. They’re nothing.”
“I’d rather you’d never existed.” El pursed his lips.
Angell sounded slightly aggrieved: “It pains me to the core; you’re still far too immature.”
Their mental exchange was quick— in reality, only three seconds had passed for Aurelia.
El replied, “I suspect Pino is colluding with the Demon Cult.”
Then, he shared everything he knew with Aurelia.
“Still, I can handle this. Don’t worry about it.” El didn’t want to trouble Aurelia too much. “If possible, though, there’s something else I’d like your help with.”
Convenience.
“I have an informant in the lower district who has already infiltrated the Demon Cult to gather evidence. I hope the Godefel Chamber of Commerce can provide him with some assistance.”
Naturally, El had his own pride. If everything required others’ intervention, what use would he be?
Not wanting to dampen Aurelia’s spirits, he made a simple request that would indeed help him.
On the way to the academy, Old Mike had reported his progress via communication stone—he had already successfully infiltrated the cultists and become a nondescript “Black Robe foot soldier”.
“Of course. The Chamber has already decided to participate in the cleanup of the Demon Cult in the lower districts. After all, their presence has started to impact our profits.” Aurelia agreed, seeing El’s reluctance.
But it was a lie. The cultists only killed random civilians; they had nothing to do with the Godefel family. She only said this to make El feel better.
“But I’ve fulfilled my promise—now, what about my reward? Surely a lady’s time can’t be wasted for free?” Aurelia smiled, her star-blue eyes sparkling.
“Oh~ El, I never imagined you were this capable. She likes you—hurry up and win her over, have her produce endless alchemy equipment for us!” Angell said excitedly.
El ignored the demon’s words, hesitated a moment, and dropped a kiss at the corner of Aurelia’s eye.
“Mm, I’m very satisfied.”
Leaving those words, Aurelia took her leave. After all, a lady must know how to leave herself some dignity.
“What a pity, El. You could have won that girl over just like your maid—to serve you. You’ve passed up such a golden opportunity!” Angell lamented.
“If I really did that, I can already imagine how ugly my ending would be,” El foresaw.