It felt so good to be close to the witch!

“Yes.” Roy nodded.

"That's amazing." Fuma had only heard of shadow creatures; she had never seen one in person.

A witch who can summon shadow creatures from the shadow world?

The thought flashed through Fuma's mind.

There are quite a few witches standing behind this young man...

“In that case, I’ll head back now. Two hours before the Lost Ice Coffin is fully charged, I’ll send you a message through A-Da. I hope you’ll keep the appointment as scheduled.” Fuma bowed slightly to Roy and Ais.

“Of course.” Roy said with a smile.

After seeing Fuma to the gate and watching her figure disappear into the distance, Roy's smile slowly faded, and he turned and quickly returned to the hidden place.

The second deal with Fuma was an unexpected event.

This unexpected event forced him to start some things that he could have done slowly earlier than planned.

For example, Shanika's talent evolution, the accumulation of Rage Light Seal, and so on.

……

Entering the hidden place, under the expectant gazes of several witches, Roy recounted the details of the deal.

"For this operation, Ais will be the main force, with Lilia, Shanica, and me as support."

"Of course, the specific arrangements will depend on our actual strength before the official operation. If everyone's strength improves, we will make temporary adjustments."

Roy glanced around at the witches around him and said in a deep voice.

After hearing Roy's words, Elena snorted unhappily, "Brother Roy, I can help too."

Sitting next to Elena, Vivian timidly tugged at the hem of Elena's short leather skirt and whispered, "Lord Roy is doing this for our own good, we're too weak..."

"Of course I know about that, I was just venting my frustration." Elena swayed her bushy fox tail behind her as she looked at Vivian beside her with annoyance.

“The enemies we might encounter in this operation are at least Gold-rank. You two shouldn’t go and join the fun. It’s not too late to help after you’ve mastered the basic meditation technique and advanced to the Grand rank,” Roy said helplessly.

To be honest, his strength might not be as great as Elena's and Vivian's, after all, their talents are illusion and light, respectively.

In situations where both players are of similar strength, those lacking mental fortitude are essentially helpless against illusions. Furthermore, the power of light is also terrifying, combining control, speed, and damage.

But that's under the condition of being at the same level.

The Golden Knight's rank is higher than that of the Witch, so Elena's illusions are likely ineffective. Forcing her to use them would only cause her to suffer severe backlash. As for Vivian's ability to control light, she might be able to create a strong light suddenly, but it's unnecessary.

Roy's involvement was mainly due to the potential role his talent could play in certain extreme situations.

Otherwise, he would love to stay in a safe place.

Ais alone is more than enough for this mission, and with the assistance of him, Lilia, and Shanika, there's no need to send the two weakest members on a risky mission.

After grumbling for a bit, Elena quieted down and stared blankly at the floor with her head down.

She knew she shouldn't go, but so many things had happened in the meantime. Sister Ais, Brother Roy, and others had risked their lives, while she could only stay in the safe lord's manor, anxiously waiting for the final result.

This feeling of helplessness made her extremely uncomfortable.

Fortunately, I quickly grasped the basic meditation technique and began meditating on the first rune of the first tier...

Elena was silently making plans in her mind.

Roy's gaze swept over Elena and Vivian, who were both looking downcast. This time, he was slow to realize that the events that had happened recently had made him neglect the feelings of the two little ones.

"Ugh……"

Roy sighed inwardly. The situation in Blackrock Territory was still not entirely clear, and appeasing the two children would have to wait until later. His gaze fell on Shanika, and he looked apologetic.

"Shanika, I'm sorry. We had agreed to slowly cultivate to the pinnacle of witchhood using basic meditation techniques, and then evolve our talents. This way, we could better control our magic, but now..."

"It's alright, Young Master Roy." Today, Shanica had changed back into her previous pale yellow dress, which accentuated her broad, shapely chest, and a gentle smile graced her face.

"Basic meditation techniques and magical control can be improved later. Healing is a very delicate task. After years of training, I believe that my magical control is quite good and will not be affected by a sudden increase in magical power."

"Moreover, talent evolution has always been something I've longed for. If it weren't for your instructions, I might have already absorbed the natural magic power within the high-purity magic crystal and tried to evolve my talent."

"..." Roy fell silent for a moment.

Previously, Ais and Lilia increased their magic power limit by absorbing the natural magic power within high-purity magic crystals. This was their only option before they obtained the basic meditation method. Even so, their control over magic power decreased, which was unavoidable.

But now that there are better options, there's no need for that.

However, Shanika's healing talent is too special; she is the only healer on the team.

Although we will only be assisting in the upcoming operation, it would be safer to have a healer with stronger healing abilities, just to be on the safe side.

However, this means that Shanica will need to spend more time training in magic manipulation, which is what Ais and Lilia have been doing all along.

As for Shanica's statement that she has honed her magic control through healing over the years and is very skilled in this area, Roy believes her. However, her statement that she won't be affected is clearly just a way of comforting himself.

Ais has a stronger talent for controlling magic, but after using high-purity magic crystals to increase her magic limit from 100 to 200, she still needs to train to make up for the lack of magic control. How could Shanika not be affected?

But Roy said nothing.

He knew that Shanika was simply indulging his whims.

But there was no other way; this deal concerned news about the original owner's father, Jess Tulumbel...

—Once I'm sure your father is safe and sound, I'll consider my debt of gratitude repaid.

Roy spoke silently to his current body.

“By the way, Mr. Roy, there’s something I think I should tell you.” At this moment, Shanica’s gentle voice rang out.

Roy looked up and saw Shanika brush her hair aside and wink at him: "If you come closer and look into my eyes, you'll understand better."

Roy was a little puzzled, but he didn't hesitate. He stepped forward, came to a spot half a meter in front of Shanika, and bent down slightly to look at her.

As Roy drew closer, he caught a faint scent. Perfume wasn't uncommon in this era, but such a luxury was simply not available in the small Blackstone Territory. Therefore, the nature of this scent was self-evident.

How to describe this fragrance? Compared to the floral scents I remember, it's probably closer to the scent of peonies—graceful and luxurious, giving one a sense of magnanimity.

At this distance, in addition to smelling her fragrance, Roy could clearly see Shanika's delicate, fair, and almost perfect skin.

Shanica wore a pale yellow dress with a neckline that was neither too high nor too low, so it didn't reveal anything when viewed from the front. But Roy's dress, which was tilted downwards from above, was a different story.

The deep ravines seem to hold the most mysterious realm in the world, making people want to explore them.

Suppressing the ripples in his heart, Roy forced his gaze upwards, meeting Shanika's watery eyes.

Upon closer inspection, Roy's pupils suddenly contracted.

Because, in Shanika's eyes, he saw a faint, yet undeniably real, trace of black, polluted silk.

"How is this going?!"

"Shanika, when did this start happening to you? How are you feeling? What's wrong? What's affecting you?"

Roy said anxiously.

"Hmm... I think it happened after I woke up by Star Lake that night." Seeing Roy's anxious look, Shanica smiled gently: "Young Master Roy, you don't need to worry too much. I've survived so much pollution in the past, this little bit won't have any effect on me."

Roy frowned, raised his hand, and grasped Shanika's frosty white wrist. With the activation of his talent [Infinite Desire], he could truly feel the presence of that trace of pollution within Shanika's body.

Is it due to the residual, insane magic that Cecil previously leaked out? Or is the pollution inherently impossible to eradicate, and it gradually accumulates as the witches absorb the magic?

If it is the latter, then Ais and Lilia, who also use magic very frequently and absorb magic from the world, have not yet experienced this situation.

Is it really the remaining mad magic of the questioner, Seshel?

From what we can see now, this does seem to be the only explanation, but Roy still feels something is off.

But regardless, let's first help Shanika get rid of this trace of pollution in her body.

With the activation of [Infinite Desire], that trace of pollution, like a rootless duckweed, was quickly absorbed into Roy's body. To Roy's surprise, the [Original Sin Cube] character panel, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly appeared before his eyes at this moment.

-

[Fragment of original sin contamination branch aggregate discovered... Absorbing... Absorption complete... Identifying original sin characteristics... Identification complete!]

[Energy reserve progress +1%! — Of which [Original Sin Trait - Lust] accounts for 60% and [Original Sin Trait - Gluttony] accounts for 40%]

【当前能量储备进度：95%——76.5%傲慢、9.1%色欲、9%混沌、0.4%暴食】

-

The prompt that appeared before his eyes made Roy squint.

"Fragments of the original sin contaminated branch aggregate... 60% lust and 40% gluttony..."

The improvement in the character panel undoubtedly told Roy that the pollution in Shanika's body was not the invasion of Cecil's mad magic that he had previously guessed. The composition of this original sin proportion was exactly the same as the original sin pollution branch aggregate that he had absorbed from Shanika in the past. The only difference was that this time it was a fragment, while the previous one was a complete body.

Identifying the source of the contamination did not resolve Roy's question—how did this trace of contamination, which had been completely removed from Shanika's body, reappear?

Without sufficient information, making unfounded guesses is pointless. Roy took a deep breath, suppressed the chaotic thoughts in his mind, and turned to the other four witches who were watching anxiously beside him, saying, "Ais, Lilia, if any contamination is found in your bodies, be sure to tell me immediately."

The two nodded. The sudden pollution in Shanika's body startled them. How could they not take this matter seriously?

"Phew, I've removed that contamination." Roy let out a soft sigh. "Shanika, you do it too. If the contamination reappears, you have to tell me immediately."

Shanika, who had been standing by the bed but was now sitting on it, her earlobes red and her thighs pressed tightly together, nodded gently. Although this wasn't the first time she had undergone the purification process, she still found it difficult to get used to the feeling.

I really wish that right now, it was just me and Young Master Roy here...

A sudden thought caused a blush to spread across Shanica's earlobes.

"...I'm going to absorb high-purity magic crystals."

Somewhat flustered, Shanika picked up the high-purity magic crystal Roy had given her from the bedside table, closed her eyes, and lay on the bed to begin absorbing it.

Roy glanced at Shanika, who had suddenly become agitated, with a hint of curiosity, but didn't pay much attention. He walked over and sat down cross-legged on the ground, preparing to begin condensing the wrathful light seal.

The secret technique of Flame Breathing in the Bronze stage is the same as that of Explosive Flame Breathing, which is "Burning the Heart". There is also a secret technique in the Silver stage, but Roy took a look at it and felt that it was a bit complicated. He would talk about it later.

His current preferred methods of unleashing bursts are still the rage state and the strongest destructive state; he can't do without accumulating enough rage imprints.

Not far from the bed, Lilia glanced at Shanika, who was lying on the bed with her eyes tightly closed. Her gaze swept over Shanika's reddened neck, and as if she had made a connection to something, she quickly looked away and turned to Roy's profile, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed. She pursed her full lips.

Elena blinked, and the large fox tail behind her lifted up and swayed slightly.

Vivian, standing next to Elena, had a slightly unfocused gaze, her hands clasped together in front of her left chest, and her cheeks had unconsciously become flushed.

As for Ais, she awkwardly looked away and walked to the other side of the room to sit down and try to meditate.

She had memorized the basic meditation techniques word for word, and now all she needed to do was figure out how to meditate. She left the book with the two little ones and Lilia.

But for some reason, the basic meditation method that had gone very smoothly when she first tried it now felt unusually difficult for Ais.