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

Chapter 303 was a joke, but some people weren't joking.
"Hey, that's enough."

Mashu's voice came from behind Roland.

She had actually arrived long ago, since there was only one road to the meeting room, so there was no option to take a detour.

Behind her were the great sage Erebus, and the captain and sailor duo of Götze and Allen.

The four of them were watching from behind when Roland started telling scary stories to the talking cat.

Roland had already discovered them, otherwise he wouldn't have specifically used Mashu as an example.

But Mashu is ultimately a kind person.

Although sometimes, because of his short red hair, he looks a bit like a grumpy little tomato.

But she is ultimately a kind-hearted girl.

When she saw that the silly cat was almost scared to death, she still spoke up to stop Roland's teasing.

Roland expressed his helplessness regarding this.

Although the cat in his hand was already half-dead and exhausted, Roland's story wasn't finished yet.

It was rare for him to be in the mood to improvise a short story.

Erebus shook his head somewhat helplessly.

He shared some regrets, just like Roland.

He was quite eager to hear more of Roland's little stories.

After all, Roland was quite interested in the cat that was rumored to have been transformed from a dragon.

As for the details of Roland's story...

Although the Society prohibits these cruel live experiments in principle, as a great sage, he naturally knew that such research within the Society had never stopped.

Roland did embellish the story to some extent, but everything he said was genuinely fictional.

In essence, the society is indeed a place where research fanatics gather, even though researchers actually do not make up the majority of the society.

The majority are actually archaeologists who travel to various ruins and the far northern wilderness.

Ultimately, all the research tasks undertaken by the Academy are aimed at better collecting scattered historical materials and restoring and integrating forgotten histories for humanity.

Moreover, although there are quite a few truly mad scientists within the organization, thanks to a sound oversight system, those mad scientists have not yet caused any major crises.

Of course, the society also conducts some experiments that violate human ethics and morality.

However, the subjects of the experiments are usually cult members who have been captured alive.

Since we're all trash anyway, we might as well make the most of our remaining value before we die.

So he didn't think Roland was fabricating lies to tarnish the Society's image. He was simply curious about how Roland planned to continue his fabrication.

Meanwhile, Götze and Allen, who were being looked after by Rolando at sea, were filled with astonishment, as if they had discovered a new continent.

They never expected that this youngest Grand Duke of the Empire, an undisputed true genius, would have such a side.
But after a brief moment of surprise, the two breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, their understanding of Roland came almost entirely from that mission of exploring the open sea.

In that mission, Roland presented himself as a mature, reliable, powerful, and calm leader.

But thinking about it carefully, Roland is only a teenager now, so it's normal for him to have some mischievous behavior.

Moreover, when faced with a silly cat that isn't very smart but can talk and understand human speech, few owners can truly resist the urge to tease it.

As for the victim, Benmao, he did not feel relieved by the appearance of the four people.

Even when Mashu expressed goodwill, she looked terrified, quickly burrowing into Roland's collar, lying on Roland's waistcoat, and turning on the vibration mode with her back to Mashu.

"Roland... I'll never disobey again... Please don't hand me over to those crazy scientists!!!"

Mashu: “…”

Little Tomato's feelings are very complicated right now.

The outstretched hand is neither in a good position nor in a good position to retract it.

Finally, she could only give Roland a resentful look before saying, "Alright, isn't it time to end this prank?"

Roland smiled and then vigorously rubbed the cat's head: "Okay, I was just kidding you."

“I didn’t make any deal with the Great Sage, and you are my precious pet.”

"Besides you, there's probably no other cat on the entire continent that can transform into a catgirl."

Only then did Nash dare to slowly raise his head: "R-really?"

“Of course.” Roland said, ignoring the silly cat, and turned to greet the others.

Especially Götze.

The other party had now bumped into Götze, who had a prosthetic arm. Roland asked, "How does the prosthetic arm feel? Also, what happened to your right eye? Why are you wearing an eye patch?"

Seeing that Götze's image was getting closer and closer to the stereotypical image of a pirate captain, Roland asked curiously.

If I remember correctly, Götze only lost a leg in the operation; his eyes were fine.

Götze laughed helplessly: "Xiaoyuan's injury has made this eye a bit sensitive and unable to be exposed to light. It doesn't affect me much at night, but it's safer to wear an eye patch in the bright morning sun."

"You must be quite disappointed that you can't go to sea anymore?" "A little bit, but now I can stay in the branch headquarters in Riskan, drink tea, read the newspaper, and organize some reports when I have nothing to do. Life is not bad."

Götze shrugged, clearly satisfied with his current life.

Roland didn't say anything more. After chatting with Allen about their situation, he looked at Erebus, who seemed to be deep in thought.

Although we had spoken via projection a few times before.

But this was the first time Roland had met the other person in private.

"Great Sage, what are you thinking about?"

Perhaps because of his previous interactions with the great sage, Roland felt that he was generally approachable, so he didn't pay much attention to etiquette and spoke somewhat casually.

Erebus didn't seem to mind at all. He simply said, "I was just wondering... if the price was right, would you be willing to give up this cat as a test subject?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Roland felt the silly cat get hard all over.

It's as if he's dead.

Roland laughed helplessly: "Alright, Great Sage, it was just a joke, wasn't it?"

"This girl is timid, you'd better not scare her to death."

Erebus smiled without saying a word, but the serious look on his face made Roland realize that this guy was serious.

After Roland refused, Erebus did not press the matter further. He simply walked up to Roland, bent down slightly, and looked at the cat in Roland's arms: "What a pity... experimental materials for dragon species are very scarce."

"Especially such a unique sample. What a pity."

Nash: "!!!"

The cat started shaking again.

Roland shook his head helplessly; this great sage was quite playful too.

However, there are limits to pranks.

At least the person involved... the cat involved, has realized what's happening.

However, even though she realized that she seemed to have been tricked, she had no intention of being angry at all.

Although Roland seemed to be joking, the great sage did not seem to be joking.

Thinking of this, Nash silently snuggled closer into Roland's arms.

At this moment, only the aura and warmth emanating from Roland could soothe the humble cat's heart.

At this moment, Erebus raised his hand and glanced at some kind of special communicator on his wrist, then looked at Roland: "Excuse me, I'll have to take my leave for now. The meeting may be a little late, but not by too much."

"I'll trouble Your Excellency to explain this to me."

After saying that, the Great Sage, regardless of Roland's wishes, used a method Roland had never seen before to teleport away from the original spot.

……

Inside the conference room, First Army Corps Commander Elson was already seated, directing several staff officers and his adjutant Truk to make meticulous adjustments to the already arranged meeting space.

This is a technical skill.

Just as the group was making final arrangements for the venue, Cardinal Clark arrived with Suren and Paladin Gawain.

After greeting Elson, the three of them took their seats.

Next to arrive was Flam, who looked exhausted and relieved. After finding his seat, he lay down on the chair and fell asleep.

Next up was Iluvia, who also looked a bit tired, but thankfully she didn't have dark circles under her eyes.

The leader of the negotiation team that the Empire had previously led in negotiating with the Princess also arrived at the venue with a yawning Kefas. The two sat down next to Elson and began to whisper with the Legion Commander and Iluvia.

Soon Roland arrived at the venue with Mash, Götze, and Eren.

Compared to the others present, young Allen was clearly facing such a scene for the first time and appeared quite nervous.

Götze, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed, and he took the opportunity to reassure Allen beside him, telling him not to be nervous and just to pretend that he was listening attentively.

Soon, the meeting began amidst the quiet conversations of the attendees.

However, Erebus had not yet arrived at the conference room.

Roland then stood up and said, "Gentlemen, His Excellency the Great Sage has some urgent matters to attend to, so the meeting may start a few minutes late. Please forgive him."

Although the speaker is referring to you all, anyone with a modicum of intelligence knows that Roland is talking to that cardinal.

After all, Roland was the Grand Duke of the Empire, and he was visibly close to the Academy. Especially since it was the Academy's Great Sage who was late this time, neither the Empire nor the Academy would have any objections.

Clark nodded: "It's alright. Although the meeting is important, I don't think the Great Sage is the kind of person who doesn't know what's important. He must have encountered a pressing matter to resolve. The Holy See is naturally willing to understand."

Fortunately, just as he said, Erebus was only a few minutes late.

However, when they saw the strangers following Erebus, everyone present except for the members of the Academy and Flam, who was still catching up on sleep, showed the same bewildered expression.

Who is this guy? He's not on the list.

The stranger quickly introduced himself: "I am a messenger from the Kingdom of Platia, sent by Prince Andreip. I have come to participate in this meeting at the invitation of the Great Sage Erebus. As authorized by the Prince, I will represent him at the meeting."

(End of this chapter)