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

Chapter 282 The Sunny and Cheerful Paladin
"An envoy from the Papacy? Suren?"

After listening to Cellinina's introduction, Roland subconsciously looked at Cellinina and asked her a question.

Because of his mentor's dark past, Roland is now very sensitive to the word "Papal Court".

Especially the parties involved.

Although he spoke righteously at first, he immediately hid behind Kalia after hearing that the envoy of the Holy See had arrived in Isfar.

Cellina nodded.

It was only then that Roland noticed the enormous changes in Cellina.

After not seeing her for over a month, this once taciturn and aloof female bodyguard, skilled in stealth, now had her long hair tied up with a hair tie, and the ponytail draped over her shoulders, creating a very dangerous "married woman" hairstyle.

The large cloak that she never took off was now replaced by a thick and beautiful black dress, and a white wool scarf was wrapped around her previously bare neck.

Her entire demeanor has completely changed.

If you ignore the twin swords that always hang at her waist and never leave her side, Cellina at this moment looks exactly like a friendly older sister next door.

Faced with Roland's gaze, Cellina turned her head away somewhat shyly, twirling a strand of hair with her fingers: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Does this outfit... look strange?"

Roland shook his head: "It's not surprising, just a little unexpected. You wouldn't have chosen to dress like this before, it's quite eye-catching."

“…I’ll take that as a compliment.” After a moment of silence, Cellina responded softly, then changed the subject: “I haven’t had a chance to ask you yet, who was that hiding behind Leah?”

"Ah, this is the legendary alchemy master, who is also my alchemy teacher. Her full name is Paracelsus, you can just call her Russell."

Upon hearing Roland's reply, Cellina's eye twitched slightly.

She looked at the suspicious-looking man who was carrying a large box and looking around furtively, and found it hard to reconcile the man with the title of "Master Alchemist".

Perhaps it's due to the eccentric personality of a capable person.

Thinking this, Cellina turned her gaze back to Roland, a slight smile playing on her lips: "It's a little late... but welcome back, Roland. I'm glad to see you're alright."

"Should we go see some old friends first, or take a rest?"

Roland chuckled in response, "Let's rest for a bit. It's almost dinnertime, isn't it?"

"Let's settle in first, and then meet again after dinner."

“Okay.” Cellina nodded slightly, then asked, “What about Nash?”

"Lia carried her away. I'm sure she went to the cafeteria, since she hasn't eaten anything today," Roland said.

Cellina covered her mouth and chuckled: "It seems your return journey won't be smooth sailing either."

Roland looked at Cellina, who was chuckling, and sighed, "Indeed, the environment is the main factor that influences people."

"Hey, why are you suddenly bringing this up?" Cherlinina asked, brushing a strand of hair from her forehead.

“Yes, why is that?” Roland laughed, then gently hugged Cellina before taking Russell to arrange accommodations.

……

"Hey Roland." Russell, walking behind Roland inside the garrison headquarters building, looked at his disciple's back and asked, "What's your relationship with that girl just now?"

“Cellina? Or Nash?” Roland countered.

"Of course it's that young lady!" Russell's eyes sparkled with gossip, looking very curious.

Roland sighed softly, then turned and asked, "Teacher, in your opinion, what is the relationship between me and Cellina?"

"Hehe, is this a rhetorical question? I don't recall ever teaching you to answer questions with questions!"

With that answer, Russell did not probe further into the student's personal life.

He spoke earnestly in the tone of an elder, saying, "Oh dear, I, an old man with one foot in the grave, won't say much about your love lives as young people."

"But Roland, a person's sincerity is very precious. Don't betray anyone's genuine feelings. This is my advice to you."

"Anyway, there's no law in the empire that says a man can only marry one wife, is there?"

After giving his instructions, Russell looked at Roland and continued, "So where am I staying tonight? And you're not going to insist that I attend the meeting with the papal envoy tonight, are you? You won't, will you?"

Roland sighed: "Don't worry, teacher, you don't need to worry about anything."

"Please stay in this room tonight."

"As for where the laboratory will be located, I will contact the First Legion tomorrow to help you find a suitable open space."

"Don't worry about the meeting; I won't force you to go."

“I will also speak with Leah and Cellina, and will not use your real name in public, until I figure out the Vatican’s attitude.”

Hearing this, Russell breathed a sigh of relief. After instructing her students to bring her some dinner to her room, she went inside to rest and also prepared lesson plans for physical training.

In education, perhaps because he always hoped to have a prized student, even though Roland was Russell's first student, Master Russell had already accumulated a wealth of theoretical teaching experience. Coupled with his time with this gifted student in January, Russell believed he understood Roland very well.

Although her carefully prepared lesson plans hadn't been of much use in teaching alchemy, she believed that with minor modifications, they would definitely be applicable to Roland's physical training!

She realized early on that Roland's unexpected skill in combat was actually in academic research!
The lesson plan I've carefully prepared will definitely come in handy!

Meanwhile, Roland, having settled Russell in, stretched at the doorway, then walked to the window by the corridor, opened it, and let the biting cold wind outside caress his face.

Under the cold wind, Roland's previously drowsy consciousness returned to normal.

In fact, as the number of times he experienced it increased, he could almost guess where this drowsiness came from.

Either I'm about to start having weird dreams again, or that girl named Elena is about to make her appearance.

But I can't sleep yet.

Moreover, after undergoing various physical enhancements, he could feel his mental strength improving slightly again, and therefore, he was able to actively resist this drowsiness.

"Don't rush, let's talk about it after we rest tonight."

Roland muttered to himself, then patted his cheeks and walked toward the main canteen of the camp.

Let's eat first, then we can talk business.

Afterwards, Roland had a long-awaited meal with Kalia, who was starving after a day, Cherlinina and Nash, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, and Iluvia, who had rushed over despite her official duties.

After the brief dinner, Roland asked Kalia to deliver dinner to Russell, and reminded Kalia not to steal her mentor's dinner. Then, he went with Iluvia and Cellina to a high-class hotel in the city that had been well preserved during the Isfar catastrophe.

This place has been temporarily reserved by the Imperial government to accommodate the envoys from the Papacy and the Society who have traveled from afar.

As soon as Roland arrived at the hotel entrance, he saw an unexpected acquaintance.

"Ah! It's Lord Roland! No, I should call him Grand Duke now! Hahahaha, I didn't expect such a big change to happen in just over a month."

The burly, blond young man, who was very outgoing, greeted Roland.

Looking at the other person's sunny and handsome face, Roland searched his memory and remembered the name of the person in front of him: "Gawain? Gawain Langut?"

"Haha! I didn't expect you to still remember me!"

"It seems you remember what happened in Blackthorn Territory very well!"

"I thought you would have forgotten about this after experiencing so many thrilling events."

Indeed, the outgoing blond youth in front of him was none other than Gawain Langut, the high-ranking paladin of the Holy See who had responded to the Blackthorn Territory's plea for help and rushed to its aid.

When I first met him, he and eight other high-ranking paladins were chasing after a prototype machine.

Unfortunately, they couldn't catch up and it got away.

Roland truly hadn't expected to encounter this paladin here.

However, this shows that the Vatican does indeed attach great importance to the intelligence Roland delivered this time.

That makes sense, since the Papacy's original foundation was mainly in the northern kingdoms.

In the realm of the Empire, the Papacy's influence is virtually incomparable to that of the Holy See.

Moreover, the methods employed by the demons this time have left the Holy See in a dilemma: whether to listen or not, it's a situation where a single-minded approach has become a double-edged sword.

Unless they can seize the initiative and break the demons' mind control over the high-ranking officials of various countries.

However, this scale was still somewhat beyond Roland's expectations.

I originally thought that the fact that the Academy sent a great sage directly showed that they were placing the utmost importance on this matter.

But to everyone's surprise, the Vatican also attached great importance to it.

A full ten high-ranking paladins accompanied him, along with several Grand Inquisitors whom Roland recognized.

And there's Suren.

Although Roland initially thought that Suren would be the envoy in charge, it now seems that the Papacy may have sent a very important figure.

If it were Suren, there would be no way he could have so many high-quality followers.

Even if Suren is highly regarded by the Vatican, it's impossible.

It should be noted that the entire Holy See has only three hundred high-ranking paladins, and ten of them have come this time.

This does not include the Grand Inquisitors.

After chatting with Gawain about his recent situation, Suren came out of the hotel.

After waving to Roland, Suren looked at Roland and Iluvia and said, "Please come with me to the third floor. My teacher would like to have a good talk with you two."

(End of this chapter)