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

Chapter 256 We are a two-person team!
After hearing the Demon King's speech in his mind, Roland looked at the Princess and said in response to her uneasy gaze, "I believe what you have to say."

"Now you can tell me your demands."

"What do you want by leaving your headquarters and coming to the Empire in person to negotiate?"

"If you are looking for help to solve your country's problems, then please forgive me for refusing in advance."

The princess shook her head: "No, I never thought I could get manpower assistance from the Empire before I came here."

"Even if your country agrees, the Federation of Nations will not agree."

"Although in actual administration, the member states of the federation govern themselves independently, and there are even quite a few that wage war against each other."

"But as a federation that split from the former Holy Lagnacia Empire, it is still a single entity in name."

"The kings of each country are the former electors of the empire, and the speaker of the federation is the former emperor of the Holy Empire."

"If the Kingdom of Plataea unilaterally seeks help from the Empire, it would be equivalent to a province or autonomous territory of your country seeking help from another country."

"This behavior will only give those ambitious people who already covet Plataea an excuse to divide up the already divided kingdom."

Roland asked curiously, "Then what is your purpose?"

"Essentially, it's still a request for help... but to be more precise, we hope to get the assistance of your country's Hatters' Organization to help us collect evidence that the King is being controlled by the demons!"

“In this way, I can openly request the Vatican to intervene.”

The princess said this, but Roland quickly countered, "Why not go directly to the Holy See?"

"If you don't trust the branch, with your status, send a letter of appeal to the Vatican headquarters. Given their character, they can't possibly ignore it."

"If you're still worried, I have some connections at the Inquisition. I can introduce you."

The princess's expression darkened: "I made a request... but the people sent by the Holy See lost contact shortly after entering my brother's territory from my territory."

"It's like he vanished into thin air."

Roland's lips curled slightly: "Even after all this, the Vatican hasn't continued the investigation?"

The princess shook her head: "No... The Vatican is very concerned, but they can't send any more people."

“You are unaware of the situation in the North, where cult activities are rampant.”

"The bishops of the Chaos Brotherhood, the cardinals of the Annihilation Order, the vanguard of the Night Apostles, and those lunatics of the Ash Order... the Holy See has quite a few forces to deal with."

"Although the Vatican has said it will intensify its investigation once manpower becomes available, I feel like I might not live to see that day."

“In recent months, a lot of ‘King’s Faction’ people have inexplicably appeared in my territory.”

"They were clamoring to overthrow me, this rebel, and submit to the king's rule, and so on."

"But after investigation, it was found that those people changed almost within a single day."

"A sudden change of stance without warning."

"Just like... my royal brother."

"Although it is still under control for now, I am still in the stage of speculation."

“Until this time, on the way to Isfar, one of my trusted men was suddenly and without warning turned against me, and then in a tavern along the way, he revealed my whereabouts.”

"Your side must have received this information as well."

"But it's fortunate that... Lady Amya happened to be nearby when the Blood Demon Lord attacked, which saved my life."

Roland continued, "So what kind of compensation are you planning to offer?"

"Isn't a reward that satisfies both me and His Majesty necessary?"

"You know, even the powerful figures sent by the Vatican can disappear without a trace, so the Hatter's men can't be said to be any stronger than them."

"Isn't this a deal with almost certain death?"

"Besides, through these two days of communication, I've learned that the Hatter's intelligence network in the northern border of the Kingdom of Platia has also been completely lost."

"The cost of training an excellent intelligence agent is not low."

The princess sighed.

She had thought this through before she came.

As long as no territory is ceded and no internal affairs are interfered with, the Empire can propose any conditions it wants.

Money, supplies, intelligence...

Even if it's an unequal trade agreement, as long as it's not too outrageous, she's not against it!

After expressing this viewpoint, Roland nodded silently and then saw the guest off.

After confirming that the princess had left, Roland immediately reconnected with Salah III via teleportation magic and relayed the princess's request and reward to him.

After listening to Roland's description, the old man, who was both the emperor and Roland's father-in-law, asked only one question.

Do you believe what she said?

Roland nodded, and without hesitation, he relayed the Demon King's words to Salah III after blurring them out and omitting the existence of the original runestone.

“I see…that explains some of the previous attacks that seemed illogical.”

"I will arrange a separate conversation with that princess."

"As for you, Roland... yesterday, Iluvia told me about you, so I'll take this opportunity to send you to the Kingdom of Platia."

"Of course, under a new identity."

"As for disguising yourself, I think you have a way, right?"

Roland nodded, then asked in return, "Are you really planning to grant her request for help?"

Salah III smiled and said, "Nothing is off-limits for the right price."

"Moreover, Plataea is in complete contact with the Empire and is its closest neighbor. It would always be good if we could build good relations with them."

"Besides, aren't you also going to the Kingdom of Platia? You can gather some intelligence when you have time."

"Ultimately, she sought the Empire's assistance in exchange for the Vatican's intervention."

"In other words, as long as the Vatican intervenes in the end, whether the Empire actually gathered intelligence or not is completely irrelevant, isn't it?"

Salah III succinctly revealed the crux of the deal.

The veracity of the intelligence is completely irrelevant.

It doesn't matter whether the empire can gather enough reliable intelligence.

The important question is whether the Vatican will get involved in Plataea's troubles.

However, given what the princess said—that the Vatican had already sent a group of people, and that group had lost contact—the next step, in accordance with the Vatican's usual practice, would be to send even more and more capable people to investigate the situation.

But it's unclear when this next step will actually begin.

Things should always be prioritized according to their importance and urgency.

Compared to the Princess's baseless accusations, even if there were some irregularities on the King's side, at least there had been no large-scale casualties.

Essentially, the Kingdom of Plataea still exhibited an atmosphere of civil war.

Based on this, the Vatican would rather stop those cult lunatics from summoning evil gods at will, or from performing strange rituals.

Upon hearing this, Roland understood Salah III's plan.

Provide all support except for assistance.

Of course, we still need to find the intelligence, but the prince didn't say when he would give it to us, did he?
Moreover, the princess's situation may not be as simple as she claims.

First of all, even the Empire knows that the Kingdom's army has already reached the gates of her hometown.

It remains to be seen what her true motives were in trying to drag the empire into this mess.

But these matters are now in the hands of Salah III.

These intricacies were not something he needed to consider.

Soon, both the negotiating team and the mission received a message.

The talks were cancelled.

It was changed to a one-on-one conversation between Salah III and the Princess.

To Roland's surprise, after the banquet, the delegation made a quick rest and then hurriedly left Isfar, returning the way they came.

The next moment, Roland, who had not yet left the banquet, received a message from Delan.

"The cooperation is settled. The Princess will prepare some new identities for the Hatter to use. All the necessary documents for the new identities will be placed in a specific location in three days. Your Excellency, I have delivered the message, and I will not disturb you any longer."

Delan, still in a hurry, delivered the message and left.

Clearly, the other party is having a headache because of the new cooperation between the Empire and the Kingdom of Platia.

Where on earth did they find so many fearless hotheads to deal with that princess?
Mr. Delan was therefore worried.

As for Roland... he simply smiled slightly. After taking out the magical artifact given to him by Flam and observing the master's location, Roland knew that he could begin preparing to become an apprentice.

Tsk, why is he going to find a master again? I hope he won't end up like Toran, where he won't have time to see his master after he becomes a disciple.

The thought that, as a student, I've never even met Tolan more than ten times is truly astonishing.

Serious academic discussions were almost nonexistent, leaving Roland somewhat speechless.

Forget it, I'll learn about magic and technology after I've resolved my health issues.

After all, learning magical technology would only result in being trapped in a metal can and cosplaying as the Fearless Elder.

However, alchemy has the potential to allow one to completely enhance their physical body.

And it also eliminates the need for exercise.

However, this is my first time trying bio-alchemy.

Although I have learned some alchemy, I only use it to make some low-quality small blue or red potions to restore mana or stop bleeding.

That's all.

As mentioned earlier, the Empire's alchemy school, due to its magical technology, focuses more on materials, tinkering with strange new alloys every day.

He knew almost nothing about bio-alchemy.

Not to mention the human transmutation within the category of bio-alchemy.

While this kind of thing is not illegal within the empire, it is not encouraged either.

"Should we learn some basic knowledge first?"

"Should we ask Mash or Is to lend us access to look at some information?"

"Never mind... let's talk about it later."

"After all, I don't necessarily have to learn it."

"Maybe that master is kind-hearted and will take care of it for me directly."

"I'll just pay for the materials and expenses."

Just as Roland was thinking this, Kalia suddenly attacked him from behind! She clung to Roland.

"Well, you rascal! You secretly plotted with that wicked woman without telling her, huh!"

"Damn it! Are you planning to go to Plataea alone!?"

After listening to Kalia's complaints, Roland smiled wryly: "After all, it's an infiltration operation, the fewer people there are, the safer it is, isn't it?"

"Of course not!" Kalia muttered. "Have you forgotten our previous seamless cooperation?"

"You take care of the fighting, I'll take care of the running!"

"Don't worry, after being strengthened, my Shadow Step technique can no longer be interrupted by any external force!"

Roland turned to look at Kalia, who was clinging to him, and sighed, "Do you really have to come with me?"

"Of course! How could I leave you alone in a dangerous environment!"

“The bad woman’s identity is too special to go. Nina is also considering that the Demon Royal Court might be involved, so she doesn’t plan to go to avoid causing you any unnecessary trouble.”

"So now it's just me left!"

"It's been a month! Our duo is about to be formed again! Aren't you excited!?"

"And this time we don't need to run for our lives, we just need to sneak in! With me leading the way, we don't need to worry about any border checks. I'll just take you straight in!"

Looking at Kalia, who was full of interest and looked confident, Roland sighed: "Alright, but the same as before."

"You have to follow orders."

"no problem!"

"Do you still remember the code?" Roland asked with a smile.

Kalia gave a thumbs up: "Of course!"

(End of this chapter)