My dear witch, please turn evil according to the script!

Chapter 160: I'll give you a million, but leave my student behind!
Under the moonlight, Cellina walked silently beside Roland, one hand on the twin swords at her waist.

Riskan...

Although it had been thirty years since she last left this coastal metropolis, the sea breeze still smelled just as familiar.

She thought she would never return to this city.

Maintaining distance allows you to think about that time as little as possible.

Although life was far less lavish than when they lived in the family, they were free.

You can take on quests with your friends, whether they are from the Academy or the Adventurers' Guild.

Venture deep into the sea, deep into the forest, and into the mountains.

With the help of her first human friend, she learned the skill that would later make her a living and became familiar with the job.

They also learned how to communicate with humans and became accustomed to the various rules of human society.

If that accident hadn't happened...

only……

Cellina looked at Roland.

She had been listening to his conversation with that researcher from the association.

If the Iris still appeared in the northern border of the Empire nearly half a month after the shipwreck.

Then... did the shipwreck never happen? Is there even the slightest possibility that my friend is still alive?

Roland, who was holding a small booklet and looking at it in the light of the flash spell released from his fingertips, also noticed Cellina's strange behavior.

At least before leaving the house, the kemonomimi girl had quite a bit to say.

But she suddenly became quiet as soon as she got to the street.

It was as if she had always been silent.

Is this guy the type who only talks a lot when there are many people around?
Roland didn't concern himself with the beast-eared girl's current mood.

Because the booklet in his hand contained the most important information.

Kefas.

Roland never expected to see this person's name in this booklet.

Although Roland learned from Cafas that his father knew the other man and that their relationship was even fairly good.

But seeing Kefas's name in this diary-like book still surprised him somewhat.

With the help of the Demon King, after the cognitive interference was removed, the "envelopes" revealed their true forms.

It wasn't a letter from any of Lancelot's friends, but rather a written record from Lancelot and a few other people.

Well, Roland could only use written records to describe what he had in his hands.

It was chaotic, filled with meaningless sentences and words, and the handwriting was a mess.

Especially the content...

It was like talking in one's sleep.

It's incoherent and illogical.

Moreover, only this booklet belonging to old Lancelot contains some useful content.

In the old Lancelot's booklet, the only complete short sentence is the one containing the name Kefas.

We must find Kefas immediately!

This is the only complete and logically sound sentence in the densely packed dozen or so pages of this booklet.

Roland also had some speculations about this.

After all, once you reach the sixth ring, you can no longer simply rely on stacking magic power to advance to a higher rank than the extraordinary.

The reason why the Seventh Ring is called the extraordinary level is because its life form has surpassed that of ordinary life.

The same applies to the Eighth and Ninth Ring Roads.

Advancement to the Transcendent rank and above requires a special ritual called the Law of the Star Ring.

Being able to complete a single ritual is enough to be considered extraordinary.

Three times is a miracle that ordinary people cannot achieve, and that is what makes a hero.

Five times or more, that's legendary.

Yes, the gap between the nine legendary rings is even greater than the gap between the eight and nine rings.

Due to their unique physique and the special auxiliary rituals passed down through generations, demons have a higher success rate in completing the Star Ring Law ritual than humans and elves.

The rulers of the Demon Clan's royal courts are usually at the seventh ritual or even higher.

And Kephas, who could rival the Lord of the Royal Court, was clearly seven times or even more.

It seems reasonable that its name could exempt it from some cognitive interference.

It seems that old Lancelot must have noticed something was amiss.

No wonder the Demon King didn't object to him looking at these books.

There's hardly any useful information on it.

However, Roland saw a familiar name again in another booklet—Willins.

That colonel of the Blackthorn Territory's city defense forces.

However, it seems that he was working in the supervisory bureau 30 years ago.

It was a blood-stained list of operatives tucked inside a booklet, along with a yellowed group photo.

Willins' name, and his face in the group photo, were both circled in black.

Behind the group photo, there was a sentence.

The notes are the same, but this one is a complete sentence.

[I'm so glad you're not here, newbie...]

Roland put down the group photo and looked at the mission details on the list of personnel involved in the operation.

It was just a short sentence—"Pursue the Chaos cultists who have fled to Rishkan."

Roland looked at these things in silence for a while.

He felt that... things hadn't become clearer because of this information; instead, they had become even more confusing.

Especially after the names of Kefahs and Willins appeared here.

Roland was not surprised by the appearance of Kefas's name.

Firstly, old Lancelot knew the other party, and secondly, even though he was not the person who could rival the Lord of the Royal Court at that time, he was still the strongest person that old Lancelot knew he could come into contact with.

Not to mention that old Lancelot most likely knew of Kefas's noble status. He probably wanted to ask Kefas for help.

I found some help.

Willins... looked no more than eighteen or nineteen years old at the time, presumably having just become a member of the Oversight Bureau.

What does he have to do with this?
What happened to the task force? Was Willis the only survivor?

Roland suddenly felt a little depressed, realizing he was once again playing the role of a detective.

This is always the case.

Especially this time, even the notifications from Brother Tongzi are gone.

Does this prove that even if Roland doesn't address this issue, the world won't be significantly affected?
After the question popped into his head, Roland shook his head.

This question may not be important to the world, but it is very important to him.

Let's investigate first... Anyway, I still have a ninth-ring expert by my side, and the soul of an ancient demon king floating around me.

It is said that having an elder in the family is like having a treasure. I have at least two elders around me, and if you include Celina, it is likely to be three elders. Rounding up, he has almost a treasure trove.

I'll keep investigating until the trail goes cold.

Anyway, the Chaos Brotherhood, who want to kill him, won't stop killing him just because he's investigating a case.

His departure from the capital and from Blackthorn Territory, where Kephas and the Papal Knights were temporarily stationed, essentially gave the other side another opportunity to act.

Not to mention they are also investigating this shipwreck incident...

Roland felt he was about to run into these guys.

That said, will the system provide me with the ritual materials for advancing to the extraordinary level?
After all, I don't seem to be far from the Seventh Ring Road.

Thinking about this made Roland feel somewhat dazed.

At the beginning of the month, I was just a nobody in the second-tier city, and now, less than a month later, I'm already thinking about extraordinary advancement...

Roland, whose thoughts were starting to wander again, only then realized that he had arrived in front of the Riscan Society branch.

Cellina turned to Roland: "You seemed to be looking very intently just now. Did you find any new clues?"

“…I guess so.” Roland put the booklet into his storage ring: “The names of two acquaintances, and a list of personnel involved in the operation.”

"I think I'll have to use my connections again. But whether I use them or not depends on whether Mr. Delan has the information I need."

The process of obtaining the information went smoothly.

Following Professor Matthew's method, Roland quickly retrieved a bundle of documents wrapped in kraft paper from the large mailbox.

Roland has learned a lot today.

He had passed by this big mailbox countless times before. When he was a child, he thought it was just because he had a lot of letters that he had a big mailbox.

Unexpectedly... this thing actually has a built-in teleportation device.

"Alright, Cellina. Let's go to the city defense headquarters... Hmm, it seems like a communication spell is trying to reach you. Aren't you going to answer it?"

Roland was puzzled when he saw Cellina hang up the message abruptly.

"I won't answer. They're not important."

Cellina turned her head away, then walked up to Roland: "Let's go, didn't you say you were going to the city defense headquarters? Let's hurry up and get there."

Roland found it strange.

Logically speaking, Cherlinina, a demon, should be hiding her identity and living a life of ease in human territory. She is a powerful warrior with combat skills comparable to an eighth-rank expert, yet she is not even as good as a fourth-rank mercenary.

She probably doesn't know many people, and her social circle seems to revolve around her.

The confusion was quickly resolved.

Shortly after Cellina hung up the communication spell, Roland discovered that Toran had started contacting him.

"Teacher? Calling me at this hour?"

He called me at three in the morning... Could this old man be doing some experiment with my senior again?

But is it because something urgent is coming up when you're contacting me at this time?
Roland answered the call without noticing the unease hidden in Cellina's eyes.

They didn't even notice that Cellina had hidden behind the mailbox, only peeking out to eavesdrop on Roland and Toran's conversation.

"Teacher, why are you calling me at this hour? Aren't you afraid I'm sleeping?"

"You brat, you've only been back in Wangdu for two days and you're already leaving again? Don't you even think about meeting me and saying a few words?"

Hey, I came here but you weren't here!

"Oh, never mind, let's not talk about this... I have a question for you."

Toran's expression turned serious in the picture, and Roland became curious: "Teacher, why are you looking at me so seriously?"

"Don't tell me the academy has other requests for me to do, will it?"

"No... even I wouldn't be contacting you now. You've already met that demon, haven't you?"

"Demons?" Roland was taken aback for a moment, then quickly realized who Toran was referring to: "I've met them. Is there a problem?"

"You have a business relationship with her?"

"Of course, without her helping me hold off that nine-ring sword guard commander a few times, I would have died in Blackthorn Territory long ago."

"Sigh... I know you have your reasons, but she's a demon after all! You..."

Before Toran could finish his sentence, Roland interrupted him with a smile: "Teacher, I said something similar when you asked me to make a decision about Iluvia."

"I trust those who trust me."

"You should go to bed early, I'll stay vigilant, don't worry."

After saying that, Roland hung up the communication spell without giving Toran a chance to speak, and then looked at Cellina, who was hiding behind the mailbox: "Old people like to worry, don't overthink it."

"Let's go to the city defense headquarters."

Cellina hesitated before stepping out from behind the mailbox: "You...you just...did you just say 'trust'?"

“Okay, I’ve told you. I’ll tell you what you want to know another time.” Roland waved to Cellina, signaling her to follow.

"Why now, at this time?"

"Why...maybe it's because I learned some other information from a certain Demon King."

Roland smiled and said, "By the way, now that I've told you, our cooperation is complete, right? What are your plans after this?"

"After what? What after what?" Cellina paused for a moment, then suddenly realized something.

Yes, what should I do after I complete the task?
"...We'll see. You didn't tell me the answer anyway."

"That's true. Let's go then."

(End of this chapter)