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

Chapter 284 He still has to thank us.

After listening to Cardinal Clark's account, Roland understood the other party's intentions.

To put it bluntly, he volunteered to avoid the Vatican from focusing on Roland's intelligence sources, and also to help Roland avoid trouble regarding the existence of the Demon King.

After all, the Vatican's attitude towards demons is mostly hostile or even hateful.

Rather, this is the attitude of most humans towards demons.

Even in the relatively relaxed Northern Territory, there are no demons who can coexist with humans.

Most of the demons who mingled with humans existed in the North as mercenaries or even slaves.

Humans like Roland, who have demon friends, possess the remnant soul of a demon king, and even entrust government affairs to demons, are extremely rare.

Although Roland was a Grand Duke of the Empire and even engaged to the Princess, seemingly poised to become a future regent, the Papacy's influence within the Empire was indeed limited.

However, the Vatican's influence is still very strong. Once it is associated with the demon race, it is no less serious than Wellington's crime of colluding with the Chaos Brotherhood.

Clark was using this attitude to prove his point, in order to gain Roland's help and advice.

Roland was naturally happy to oblige.

Who would refuse to have less trouble?
As for helping... Roland, who has already pulled off a get-rich-quick scheme once, wouldn't mind doing it again.

After reaching a preliminary consensus, Clark looked at Roland and asked, "So, Lord Roland, what is your view on this strange event at the Vatican?"

Roland shook his head helplessly: "Of course, we'll just sit and watch. Apart from a few words from His Excellency the Cardinal, I have no other clues."

"And if I may be frank, although I have indeed been involved in several incidents involving evil gods, and I have indeed been able to eliminate the pollution of evil god power, this does not mean that I have enough understanding of the existence of evil gods themselves."

"I can remove the corruption of the evil god's power because of my special ability, not because of how much I know about the evil god."

Cardinal Clark sighed: "Very well, your answer is what I expected... Lord Roland, could you make me a promise?"

"That depends on the contents of your promise. As long as it's not excessive, I think I'll agree."

Roland answered in this way, then looked at Clark, who still had a faint smile on his face.

"That's natural. The content is very simple. I just want you to promise that when the Holy See needs your power to resolve the calamities brought by the evil god, you will lend a helping hand. That's all."

Clark quickly gave his answer, and Roland nodded after hearing it.

This requirement is not stringent, and it is not much different from the cooperation conditions given by the great sage of the academy.

Roland readily agreed: "If that's the case, then there's no problem."

"Very good, very good...Does Your Excellency have anything else to say?"

Clark, who had originally planned to end the conversation and discuss other important matters at the formal meeting later, noticed Roland's slightly deliberate hesitation.

He grew to appreciate Roland more and more.

At such a young age, she has already learned this art of playing hard to get, inducing others to ask questions and making herself seem less deliberate.

As expected, to become a Grand Duke, besides strength and achievements, one must also have some cunning and scheming.

Although it's a bit immature, as long as the effect is achieved, that's fine.

After all, for a young powerhouse like Roland, whose future is destined to be bright, scheming and plotting are ultimately just icing on the cake.

It's good to have it, but it won't make much of a difference if you don't.

The fact that someone at only the sixth ring level could fight against a ninth-ring legend or even the ruler of the Demon Clan's royal court and escape unscathed speaks volumes.

The aura of the Lord of the Flame Demon Court was never concealed at the border. Even though he had only just arrived in Isfar, he could sense it very clearly.

Even though Roland is no match for veteran powerhouses now, he still lacks in raw strength.

But this precisely demonstrates the potential Roland will have after he ascends to the extraordinary level.

Therefore, he didn't mind listening to what Roland had to say.

Roland nodded: "I knew it."

"I just want to ask if the Vatican lost a holy relic eighty years ago?"

"A sacred relic?" Clark was clearly taken aback when he heard Roland's question.

The reason is simple: he was a cardinal in the Vatican responsible for managing sacred objects.

The highest-ranking figure in the entire Papacy is naturally the Pope, followed by nominally ranked saints and cardinals.

Of course, compared to the saints who are recognized by the gods and are mainly responsible for fighting and preaching, the twelve cardinals, who are half a level lower in status, are the real administrators responsible for the daily operation of the Papacy.

Clark, on the other hand, was a veteran cardinal who had even been shortlisted for sainthood.

Since he became a cardinal a century ago, he has never heard of any lost relics.

Where did Roland hear the news?
To be honest, at this moment, he was more concerned about Roland's gossip than his own memories and experience.

After all, although he is young, he knows quite a few old guys.

Who knows, they might know some secrets they themselves don't.

"Your Excellency, you are unaware?" Roland was somewhat surprised by Clark's reaction. Could it be that the Holy See had never lost a holy relic?

Surely they couldn't have lost the sacred relic and not noticed it?

At this moment, Iluvia, who had been listening in idly, seemed to realize something.

She seemed to have guessed why Roland had asked about the relics.

To determine why an acquaintance suddenly asks a strange question, you only need to check who they have recently met.

Clearly, Roland and Kalia would not normally care about a sacred relic lost eighty years ago.

But the teacher Roland brought back might be different.

When Roland and Kalia went to the Kingdom of Platia to find the alchemist, she inquired about some information from Lady Flam and learned that the alchemist was a human who had survived for more than six hundred years by changing his body through his amazing bio-alchemy techniques.

It is a true living fossil of humankind.

If it were her, it wouldn't be unacceptable for her to steal a sacred object through some means.

Moreover, judging from Roland's current words... it seems that the sacred relic is probably lost forever.

However, coincidentally, the Vatican also seems to have failed to discover the theft of the sacred relics.

At this point, Roland and Clark's conversation also got down to business.

Roland somewhat regretted asking so directly.

The main reason was that he hadn't expected Clark to be the cardinal in charge of managing the relics, and he also hadn't expected that the Vatican seemed to have never realized that a relic had been lost.

Ugh! What kind of mess is this?!
This debt could have been completely ignored!
It's definitely good to live a long life; you can outlive your creditors until they die of old age.

Roland thought to himself that the creditor who had originally agreed to lend the relic probably forged the storage record of the relic to avoid being implicated after Russell ran away.

It's not impossible that they created a fake that's all show and no substance and put it in the relic repository.

It can't be that we simply didn't notice it, right?
The Vatican's security measures are rather abstract.

Clark also realized the terrifying amount of information contained in Roland's words.

But he didn't think about the debt.

Instead, they believed that Roland was kindly reminding them of the theft of the sacred object.

This is helping myself!
Theft eighty years ago? That must have happened when I first took office.

If the sacred relic is really lost, won't that implicate me?

I'm so glad I made this student a friend!

He is indeed a trustworthy junior! No wonder he seemed so embarrassed to speak just now.

I guess they were afraid they wouldn't believe it themselves?
Unfortunately, old Clark happened to be the kind of person who was most receptive to advice!
"Thank you for reminding me, Your Excellency. I will immediately inform my subordinates to verify the status of the sacred object."

"It seems that the two sides can engage in a truly heartfelt and unreserved collaboration."

Clark reached out with satisfaction and squeezed Roland's hands tightly.

A relieved smile appeared on his wrinkled face.

Roland, whose mind worked quickly, understood Clark's line of thought and returned the smile: "Then we'll await your good news. Even though it's just a rumor, we can't ignore it, can we?"

“Yes…if your information is true, I will reward you handsomely.” Clark said, making a guarantee: “Although I have adhered to the principle of asceticism throughout my life, I have not accumulated any wealth.”

"But I think that you, as a Grand Duke, should not lack these gold and silver items."

"So, whether your information is true or not, you will receive a promise from me that, without violating the doctrines of the Vatican or human ethics, I will do my best to help you accomplish something."

Now it was Roland's turn to be surprised.

Well, he should thank us.

This unexpected gain truly surprised Roland.

After some polite small talk, the conversation ended.

The remaining cooperation issues will have to wait until the great sage of the academy arrives before they can be discussed.

After all, the changes that have occurred in the North are no longer problems that the Papacy or the Society can solve alone.

With the combined efforts of the three parties, plus the envoy from Princess Andreep who was reportedly on his way to Isfar, the four-way cooperation was needed to make a breakthrough in the North.

In short, everything went very smoothly and harmoniously.

Pushing open the door, Suren, who had been leaning against the corridor wall in a daze, waved and greeted Roland and Iluvia as they came out: "Yo, it's finally over? The teacher didn't ask anything too inappropriate, did he?"

"This guy, although he looks all smiles and like a kind old man, he's actually got a lot of bad ideas hidden inside! Did he give you any trouble?"

Iluvia's expression was somewhat subtle. While maintaining an elegant smile, she turned her head and gestured for Roland to share his opinion.

Roland, with a similarly subtle expression, looked at the somewhat bewildered Suren and said quietly, "Well... the old man is quite easy to talk to; he even thanked me."

(End of this chapter)