Chapter 38: Sothing Evil Has Entered Your Ho!
“Miss...” Sariel wanted to lower her head, but her neck had already been completely frozen, and her body could not move.
“Please let her out, Lina,” Sibyl slowly lowered her head toward Lina. “I’m very sorry about what happened today... I will definitely give you an explanation afterward.”
Lina jolted and hurriedly supported Sibyl. “No, no, no, I didn’t get hurt... though they probably suffered so superficial injuries.”
Sibyl cast Sariel a cold glance. “Loyalty without thought is foolish. This is what they deserve... Lina, the fact that you didn’t kill them outright is already their good fortune.”
“Alright, this is your family’s private matter... oh right, so of the inn’s furniture got damaged during the fight earlier...”
“The family will cover all repair costs.”
“Mm... and to deal with them, I bought a few sheets of magic imprint paper, which were quite expensive...”
“I will compensate you.”
“The Sibyl family’s actions have caused you trouble. This is part of the compensation.” Sibyl took out three ten-gold-dragon banknotes and handed them to Lina.
“Oh my, how embarrassing of !” Lina snatched the money and stuffed it into her storage ring, with not the slightest trace of embarrassnt on her face.
Sibyl gently raised her hand and cast a cleansing spell on Sariel, who had just been released by Annie:
“They acted despite knowing that I did not permit this. According to the family’s rules, I have the authority to temporarily delay finalizing Father’s decisions, yet they never consulted at all.”
“Miss, I... we...” Sariel hesitated for a few seconds, clenched her fists tightly, and finally let out a soft breath. “I’m sorry... Miss, this matter has nothing to do with the others. This was my personal decision.”
“Your personal decision?” Sibyl’s brows furrowed slightly. “Co, let’s talk inside the inn.”
After entering the inn, Sibyl found a private room further inside. Lina, Annie, and Sibyl sat across from Sariel, while Mira stood guard outside the door.
Lina grabbed a cup of coffee from the front desk and quietly listened while stirring it.
“Go on, what exactly is going on?” Sibyl rested her chin on her hands, her expression serious. “Sariel, you’ve worked for the family for many years. I’m willing to trust you, but you need to give a reasonable explanation.”
“Miss, I suspect...” Sariel clenched her fists tightly, staring straight into Sibyl’s eyes. “I suspect that Master Sibyl has recently been affected by so kind of curse!”
“A curse? Explain in detail.” Sibyl tapped the table lightly with her index finger. “Father’s behavior has indeed been sowhat strange lately, but why do you think it’s related to a curse? And what is the source of the curse?”
Sariel took a deep breath and slowly pointed to the scar beneath her eye. “Miss, this scar was left on my face by a special kind of evil entity when I was serving in the Holy War Army.”
“This scar not only remains on my body, but also left a mark on my soul. That is also why I retired—whenever I get close to such evil entities, I feel an inexplicable fear.”
“However, ever since Ms. Lisa and Mr. Tal ca to the house... I’ve been having frequent nightmares. Especially when I get close to Ms. Lisa, that sense of fear becos even more pronounced.”
“Plant,” Lina, who had been silent for a long ti, suddenly spoke. “It’s the demon Plant—a kind of evil entity that can disguise itself as a human and manipulate human emotions.”
Everyone’s gaze turned in unison toward Lina, with Sariel looking particularly shocked.
She had served in the Holy War Army for more than ten years, yet she had never heard the na of such an evil entity!
“Kaenirat, Heracles, Eglas, Dekochel... these evil entities were erased from the records of the major churches long ago,” Lina’s tone was calm, yet every word sent a chill down their spines:
“These entities once shared a common title—Demon Archdukes,” Lina said slowly.
“Demon Archdukes...” Sariel murmured the unfamiliar rank. “There are actually beings even more powerful than Lord-class demons...”
“Above the Demon Archdukes, there is an even more special kind of entity, called ‘Apocalypse’,” Lina said to Sariel. “In theory, they were all completely wiped out during the Fifth Holy War... The one that left the scar on your face—was it a creature with a main body resembling a single eyeball and three pairs of bat wings?”
“H-how do you know...”
“That was a minion of Eglas, a Nightmare Spreader.” Lina’s expression grew grave as she continued to press, “Did you see its true form at the ti? A grotesque entity hundreds of ters tall, covered all over with tentacles and cysts.”
“I... I didn’t... no, I did!” Sariel clutched her head with both hands, her face twisted in pain. “It... it’s in my dreams! It’s there every day! It...”
“Phew—” Lina let out a soft breath and turned to Sibyl. “Your household... may have been infiltrated by a minion of a Demon Archduke—Plant. It can mimic a human appearance and manipulate others’ thoughts to a certain extent. Its concealnt ability is extrely high. It has no visual or auditory senses, but it can perceive all kinds of information in the real world through magic power, even fluctuations in human emotions.”
Sariel couldn’t help but ask, “Then... do we have any way to deal with this demon?”
“Plant isn’t a demon that excels at combat,” Lina’s expression relaxed slightly as she shook her head. “In theory, a C-rank witch would be enough to defeat it.”
“Then let’s act imdiately!” Sariel stood up at once. “We can’t delay any longer!”
“Wait a mont!” Lina quickly stopped this decisive older woman. “Defeating it is easy, but it’s very cunning. If it finds a chance to escape, we might lose our opportunity to capture it forever!”
“Sorry, I was too impulsive,” Sariel lowered her head and sat back down. “But letting the master remain under control like this isn’t a solution either...”
“There’s no need to be that nervous,” Lina revealed a faint smile. “Thanks to your ‘unauthorized’ attack this ti, we’ve already seized the initiative. Sariel, Sibyl—did either of you encounter anything ‘unusual’ today?”
“Mm, now that you ntion it, I do recall sothing,” Sibyl revealed a thoughtful expression. “Early this morning, Father asked to go to the factory in the northern part of town to investigate a worker disappearance case... Earlier, when I was heading from the magic item shop to the factory, I happened to run into Lina.”
“If not for the informant I had arranged in advance at ho, I wouldn’t have known about Sariel and the others’ actions either.”
“Wait, you were at the factory?” Sariel’s eyes widened. “But the servants at ho clearly said you were at the elentary magic academy in the west, and told to find you after your classes ended...”
“Heh...” Lina let out a cold laugh. “Perhaps there really is a ‘Miss Sibyl’ at the elentary magic academy right now, waiting for you to report in. But to make the entire incident flawless, the ‘real’ Miss couldn’t return safely from the factory either.”
At this, Sibyl and Sariel exchanged a glance, cold sweat forming on their backs.
What lay behind today’s events was likely far more terrifying than they had imagined.
“So...” Sariel swallowed. “Then the factory side... might also have a trap targeting Miss?”
“Yes. But perhaps because she heard about what happened here, Sibyl hurried back, and thus happened to avoid the trap,” Lina rested her chin on her interlaced fingers. “Then things are simple—go to the academy and deal with that Plant.”
“But there are still several of my friends at the factory,” Sibyl bit her lower lip tightly. “They might be in danger!”
“Don’t rush, Sibyl,” Lina asked calmly. “Can you first explain what exactly is going on with the ‘worker disappearance case’ at the factory?”
“When I left, I only learned so basic details,” Sibyl recalled. “About a week ago, five workers mysteriously disappeared during the night. They were last seen in the workers’ dormitory, and the dormitory attendant didn’t notice any sign of them entering or leaving during the night.”
“At first, so suspected that these workers had escaped by jumping out of the windows, but their dormitory was at least ten ters above the ground, and none of them were extraordinary individuals, so that possibility was ruled out.”
“I investigated their activity tracks over the past week and found nothing unusual. These five workers were not locals, and they belonged to different departnts.”
“They disappeared very suddenly, without any warning. The only common point was that their last known location was on their beds in the dormitory.”
“However, I still found so suspicious clues,” Sibyl rested her cheek on one hand and tilted her head toward the ceiling. “These five workers had all taken continuous leave recently, and the reasons were basically the sa.”
“What reason?” Lina pressed.
“Nightmares,” Sibyl said very seriously. “Continuous nightmares left them physically and ntally exhausted, to the point that they couldn’t even complete their dayti work normally.”
“Nightmares... hiss—” Lina suddenly thought of sothing, and her expression instantly turned serious. “I’m afraid neither side can be delayed... If it’s really what I’m thinking, especially the matter at the factory... it might truly be aid at you.”
“Huh?” Sibyl blinked. “Why?”
“Do you still rember those cultists we encountered during the previous exam?” Lina looked at Sibyl. “Among them, there were indeed people capable of pulling others into another ‘world’ through dreams. And during that exam, it was very clear—the targets of those cultists were all you.”
“This...” Sibyl appeared sowhat flustered, but quickly cald down. “Then we split into two groups—one goes to the factory, the other to the academy...”
“No need,” Lina waved her hand, interrupting her. “We’ll all go to the academy. As for the factory... I’ll leave it to one of my ‘allies.’”
“Your ally... can they handle it alone?” Sariel frowned. “Do you need to arrange a few people—”
Lina smiled faintly, took out a small, oddly shaped crystal from her storage ring, and smashed it beneath the table.
---
Sariel could never have imagined that Lina’s so-called ‘ally’ would be such a major figure, nor that she would appear in such a manner...
The Witch of the Moon, Fennis, stood beside Lina, silently looking at everyone. A coffee cup was still stuck on her head, and a faint aroma of coffee beans emanated from her body.
Lina was panicking inside.
She hadn’t expected this crystal to be nothing more than a simple teleportation crystal.
The mont it shattered, Fennis had teleported over instantly...
And slamd headfirst into the table.
“Uh, well... I really didn’t an to do that...” Lina avoided eye contact, speaking haltingly. “I just... thought this crystal was only a beacon...”
The corner of Fennis’s eye twitched ever so slightly. She removed the coffee cup and casually cast a cleansing spell on herself to remove the stains, then said calmly, “It’s fine, Miss Slacker Witch. Please get straight to the main matter.”
“Oh, oh, alright, alright.” Lina cleared her throat. “I’ve found clues related to those Returned cultists. It goes roughly like this...”
After listening to Lina’s explanation, Fennis’s brows knit tightly. “So... they are actually cooperating with evil entities? And ones that were supposed to have gone extinct after the Fifth Holy War?”
“That’s my judgnt,” Lina nodded. “I have a way to deal with that demon. As for the cultists at the factory, I’ll leave them to you. How about it?”
Fennis gave a slight nod in agreent. Her body transford into a streak of silvery-white light, flew out the window, and sped toward the northern part of town.
Annie watched Fennis’s departing figure and let out a sound of admiration: “Wow—”
Sibyl thought for a mont, then followed with: “Wow—”
Sariel blinked, and in the end decided to go along with her young miss: “Wow—”
Lina stood there with her hands on her hips, looking helpless. “What are you all ‘wow’-ing for? It’s fine if Sariel hasn’t seen her before, but you two have, haven’t you?”
“Ahaha...” Sariel laughed awkwardly. “I just... didn’t expect you to know soone of that level...”
“Haha... not exactly ‘know,’ it’s more like a business partnership, a business partnership...” Lina lifted her chin high—riding on her disciple’s prestige actually felt pretty great!
“Seeing her up close, she’s really so beautiful!” Annie’s eyes sparkled with stars. “Just like the legendary Goddess of Moonlight!”
“As a witch’s strength increases, her appearance and temperant will also change.” Lina smiled and ruffled Annie’s hair. “All ten S-rank witches are unreasonably beautiful.”
“Why?” Sibyl looked puzzled. “Why would sothing as subjective as appearance change with the strength of magic power?”
“The strength of magic power is essentially one’s control over the fundantal rules of the world,” Lina explained seriously. “The stronger your magic, the more rules you control. All your attributes will align more closely with so kind of ‘universal standard’ of the world. The result is that your appearance may not actually change, but others will perceive you as more beautiful.”
“Of course, there are exceptions. The Ms. Hepburn we t before, and the Witch of the Moon—they’re naturally beautiful to begin with. The enhancent from magic is just the icing on the cake,” Lina added.
“Wow—” Annie’s eyes widened. “Lina, have you seen those S-rank Great Witches? What are they like?”
“Ahem, just hearsay, hearsay.” Lina coughed lightly and ruffled Annie’s hair again. “Annie is already very cute. When you beco a Great Witch, you definitely won’t lose to them.”
“S-rank Great Witch is still too far away...” Annie lowered her head shyly.
“Not far at all, not far in the slightest.” Lina smiled faintly, stood up, and beckoned to her companions. “Let’s go, to the magic academy. Let’s et that impostor.”
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