“Justice? You’re actually discussing justice with a demon? El, are you crazy, or am I?” Angell laughed.
El didn’t respond to him, instead turning to Ivena and saying, “We need to move quickly. They’ve already wasted a lot of time.”
Upon hearing this, she loosened her hold around El and went off to tidy up the disguised merchant caravan.
“El-senior, what should we do about this little one?”
The cat-eared girl in Vita’s arms gazed up with big, pitiful eyes.
She had been carefully chosen by the slave traders, and unless something unexpected happened, her future would likely be as a noble’s plaything.
“Are we… going to keep her with us?” Vita’s voice was tinged with reluctance.
The original plan was for El and the others to hijack this group, then disguise themselves as the former cultists to infiltrate the Sanya Opera House.
In this context, it would be best not to move the slaves, since any slight mistake could expose their disguise.
“Uwah…” The girl understood their words, and snuggled obediently against Vita’s cheek.
Phew… El took a deep breath, crouched down to meet her eyes, and gently stroked the girl’s head. “Vita, we’ll save everyone. For now, we’re short on hands—let’s bring her with us, all right?”
“Okay, I’m with you.”
El could feel the girl’s anxiety. He saw a shadow of Ivena in her—though at that time, Ivena was already a grown girl… He was all too familiar with such a look.
It was the gaze of the “weak.” They had lost too much: family, homeland, the right to freedom. They no longer trusted the world, nor did they believe there was anything good left worth hoping for.
He cast the Soul Repose Technique on the girl. The cat-eared girl fell into a deep sleep in Vita’s arms.
“El-senior, are you close with that elf?” Vita put the girl back in her place, covering her with a white cloth, and asked.
She was perceptive; she realized that while El seemed to be looking at the cat-eared girl, in reality, he was seeing someone else through her.
Judging from his expression, Vita concluded that his eyes were for the elf.
“Mm, she’s my family—someone very important to me.”
“I see…”
Vita felt a little jealous; she had witnessed the interaction between Ivena and El earlier.
Moreover, she could sense that elf was strong—if they fought, she probably wouldn’t win. Besides, Ivena’s stunning beauty could easily make anyone feel inferior.
But El-senior called her “family”—so maybe that’s all there is between them. It’s not too much… Vita comforted herself.
“El-senior, I’ll definitely win,” she suddenly declared.
“Huh? What nonsense are you talking about? Get ready, we’re moving out.”
At that moment, El was standing by the unconscious black-robed leader, chanting a dream magic incantation. Emerald green runes emerged one after another, forming a complex magic array.
This was a part of the plan. From the very beginning, El had decided to capture this group’s leader, and then use dream magic to rewrite his perception—causing a cognitive dissonance to aid their infiltration.
Coincidentally, dream magic was El’s main research topic. Just at the end of last semester, he had submitted a paper about it to Anthony and received high praise from that sage.
To alter someone’s cognition using dream magic was considered nearly impossible among mages.
It demanded an unimaginable level of skill. Each spell module comprising the dream magic had to be perfectly controlled—if even one link went wrong, the whole effort would be wasted.
But El’s “Arcane Eye” let him monitor every step, seeing the execution of magic as clearly as if it were written before his eyes—there would be no mistakes.
“Finally done.” As the array dissipated, El let out a breath, then took three sets of black robes from his storage ring. “Ivena, Vita, change into these. Just don’t give away any obvious flaws.”
Dami woke up, his head spinning, feeling like he’d slept for ages.
“What happened? Where are we now?” he asked the black-robed underling driving the carriage.
“Boss, the goods are about to be delivered. You just said you were too tired and wanted to sleep for a bit.”
The voice under the black robe was gentle and refined, reminiscent of an old phonograph at home.
“Really?” Dami scratched his head. Was that something he would do?
“Sorry, I must have slept too hard. Where are Kohan and Mike? Where did they go?” Dami asked without thinking.
Strange… Who are Kohan and Mike? Why did I blurt out those names?
But he quickly dismissed the oddity. “Feels like my brain’s getting worse, always spouting nonsense… Good thing you’re here, Dukeson. Apart from your odd fondness for kids, you’re a reliable companion.”
“Dukeson” replied, “There are as many people named Kohan and Mike as stray dogs on the roadside. Maybe you dreamed about some old friends, Boss. Don’t worry about it—just rest after we deliver the goods.”
“Ah, you’re right,” Dami agreed.
The mechanism of cognitive dissonance was simple. El used the events in the “dream” to overwrite Dami’s real memories.
And when someone dreams, it’s easy for them to accept absurdities completely different from reality.
In short, for Dami right now, it was as if he were dreaming.
Objectively and subjectively, this was a bug. The soul’s natural purification would eventually erase it, but that window of time was more than enough for El and the others to finish their plan.
Magic… truly is miraculous! El felt a surge of pride, especially after seeing Vita’s “★★ Eyes.”
They were nearly there—El could already see the silhouette of the Opera House.
“Angell, I can sense that you’re not a bad person. That’s why I’m willing to talk to you. Neither of us is crazy, and justice isn’t something to be ashamed of,” El suddenly said in his heart, replying to the demon’s earlier words.
“Do you even know what you’re saying? As far as I know, the word ‘demon’ is used by your kind to describe evil…” Angell was surprised.
El corrected him seriously: “No, demon is just a race. Maybe plenty among you are villains, but I believe you’re not.”
What’s with this kid…?
El’s sudden sincerity caught the demon off guard, and the corners of his mouth twitched up ever so slightly.
It’s been so long since someone’s spoken to me like this…
“Listen up, kid. Trust isn’t that cheap—at least, never place your trust in a demon. Always stay vigilant, or betrayal will cut you to the bone.” Angell warned.
This kid is way too naive, it’s strange. The demon thought.
Was it intentional guidance? Or had he just been sheltered too well? Or… both?
El smiled, “A true villain would never say that.”
“Hmph, how do you know this isn’t just part of my act?”
When they reached the side entrance of the Opera House, Dami waved his hand to signal the carriage to pull over.
“This is the last batch, right?” a guard from the Marquis Family asked.
Dami nodded, then said to El and the others, “Unload the goods.”
When everything was done, Dami led them inside the Opera House.
“Our mission is simple: hide behind the stage, wait for the auction to start, then attack those nobles and ‘save’ the slaves. Got it?”
Dami explained as they walked along.
??? El didn’t understand.