What were you doing before the end of the world? Are you going to be an assassin?

Before they could complain about Kazuma's evaluation of Darkness, the two members of the three-person team that infiltrated the lord's mansion, except Aqua, immediately realized that the breakthrough point had been delivered to them.

These girls who look similar to Darkness must know some of the lord’s secrets!

“Kazuma, use your talents to investigate them.”

“That’s exactly what I meant.” Kazuma nodded. Darkness was the blind date of the lord’s son, and he had to find out what the lord was thinking.

Is it to nominally live under the same roof with Darkness? Or...

He Zhen didn't dare to think any further. He pretended to convey some message on behalf of the civil servant played by Connor. He quickly folded a tissue and put it in his chest pocket, then turned and walked in the direction where the three girls left.

One of them, who seemed to be in the best physical condition, was also rejected by the guests and was now staring blankly in the direction of the guards.

Kazuma walked up quickly and said, "Hello, it's really boring to work at this party."

The girl's dazed eyes immediately regained their spirits: "Do you want someone to accompany you to relax? There are too many people here, I can't even move."

"Brother, you have a beautiful figure~"

"The arms are so strong, what strong muscles are needed to do this~"

"Brother, can I touch it?"

The girl hugged Kazuma's arm, and the two of them stumbled towards a dark area with few people.

Aqua: ...Are you sure you're sending Kazuma to investigate the intelligence? You're not sending Kazuma into danger? ? ?

"No venture, no gain..." Connor was unsure for a moment whether Kazuma could successfully get information out of the girl who looked like Darkness, and not let others know the information about their infiltration.

But I still choose to trust Kazuma this time. At least he is much more reliable than Aqua.

A few people in fancy clothes came around the corner of the banquet hall, and the two guards immediately stood up straight: "Sir!"

The person who came was not Lord Alderp himself, but the lord's son, Barda.

Connor had observed him from a distance before, but now, seeing him up close, he felt that this man really did look like someone who could distribute relief supplies.

“It’s him…” Aqua was distracted by Barda’s appearance and whispered, “I once received relief supplies from him with Kazuma.”

Connor just nodded. It seemed that the lord himself would not come out for a while, so the task of receiving the guests was undertaken by Barda alone.

In this way, Barda can already play a role that replaces the lord in formal occasions.

This is also the reason why the lord wants to arrange a blind date between Barda and Darkness, the daughter of the noble Dustinis family.

If Connor didn't know that there was a Duke of Hell hidden in the lord's mansion, he would even think that Lord Aldap was paving the way for an heir.

The lord's son Balda had a layer of wax on his face, which looked shiny under the light, and his black eyes were shining and full of energy.

A "girl" straightened her clothes and walked up to Barda, but was chased away by Barda: "Just do what you need to do, don't hang around here."

The girl froze, she didn't know whether she should obey the order of the lord's son.

"You guys are allowed to attend my father's banquet? Guards, kick her out and don't let her come in again."

"By the way, give her some respect, a robe and five thousand eris."

The girl suddenly looked up at Barda. Was he going to let her go?

Barda simply waved his hand, signaling the guards to take immediate action.

Soon, the guards dragged the girl away from the banquet through the side door without any resistance.

The other guards remained silent and just stopped at the edge of the banquet without moving forward another step.

"Really... I've advised my father so many times, why doesn't he listen..."

Barda muttered to himself as he walked towards the center of the guests.

Guests were flowing around him, laughing and joking. The nimble waiters were holding trays with food and drinks, moving freely among the guests.

As Balda came to the back of the center, the trumpeter in charge of music blew a small sound, signaling everyone to listen quietly.

Connor also took this opportunity to move towards Barda with everyone else.

"Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen!" Barda said loudly, "Our distinguished guests!"

"The Lord of Axel, Lord Alexei Banes Aldap has arrived!"

"You will have the honor of hearing Lord Alderp's speech in the inner court!"

Somewhere in the dim light, Kazuma had already dealt with the girl, and the two of them sat in a corner where no one would care.

In other words, only Connor, who was used to observing hidden places first, could discover the two of them.

"Friends, welcome!"

A typical middle-aged aristocrat, almost exactly like the stereotypical arrogant and dissolute aristocrat, with golden curly hair hanging by his ears and lines on his face that were ferocious and cunning.

Lord Alderp smiled and said, "Everyone will have a good time tonight!"

The whole audience laughed and applauded. He paused for a moment and said, "I won't keep you too long, my friends. Axel first defeated the notorious Demon King Army cadre, the Headless Knight Beldia, and then defeated the Mobile Fortress Destroyer, who was wanted by many countries and was helpless. I am honored."

"I'm sure everyone has heard the rumor that my son Barda is going to have a blind date with Lalatina, the daughter of the Dustinis family."

"Let me make a statement here first," Lord Alderp narrowed his eyes slightly, "No matter what the result of the blind date is, it will not affect the prosperity of Axel. We must unite closely under the banner of defeating the Demon King! Create one victory after another for Axel!"

"Soon, you will gather here again to celebrate my son's marriage. Friends, our banquet will not only last for one or two days, but also six or seven days. We will celebrate for forty days in a row!"

The whole audience applauded for a long time. Except for some people who were secretly wailing that they had to prepare a second or even a third gift, everyone gave the lord warm applause and cheers.

As Lord Alderp said, his speech was indeed brief, but its meaning was self-evident.

If the Dustinis family refuses to make this marriage happen, they will be sinners who affect Axel's prosperity and traitors who destroy the anti-Demon King unity.

Rather than a threat, it was more like Lord Aldap had some leverage over the Dustinis family, so he was sure to gain it.

Lord Aldap turned to leave, but Barda blocked his way.

It was obvious that Barda was suppressing his anger.

Connor slowly moved among the crowd, intending to get closer to listen to the brief conversation between the father and son. The other guests returned to the main hall to indulge in the next banquet.

"I didn't agree to marry the daughter of the Dastinis family!" Barda said angrily.

"Father, we don't need to rely on marriage to maintain our status! Your radicalism and adventurism will destroy our friendship with the Dustinis family! We have been working hard to maintain the balance of power between us and the capital, but you have broken it all!"

Barda used gestures to emphasize her dissatisfaction. It was too unsightly to force a great noble of the kingdom like this! And what would the Dustinis family think? He wanted to marry her before they even had a blind date. Did he not want to keep his reputation as a rich lady?

Lord Aldap raised the corners of his lips slightly, revealing a delicate golden thread between his dress and his neck. A tiny scale was passed through the golden thread and hung on his chest, hidden by the dress.

"Barda, my son, I am glad that you have such thoughts. I am grateful for everything you have done for me."

Barda: "But father, why do you still..."

"Don't forget, I am the lord." Lord Aldap poked Barda's chest several times with his fingers.

The poke was painful, but Barda didn't dare to dodge and could only endure it.

He dared to swear that he had never thought of taking over the position of lord immediately. He really didn't know why his father was so suspicious and wary of him.

“Don’t be so depressed, have fun.” Lord Aldap left Barda and waved to a “girl” who undoubtedly looked very much like Darkness.

"Come on, baby, just follow me." Lord Aldap patted the girl's butt and walked out along the passage that Barda came from.

Barda became even more depressed when he saw that Lord Aldap had left.

Connor pretended to be an ordinary guest, strolling around like everyone else, and Aqua followed closely behind him with her head down.

While Lord Alderp was giving his speech, the main hall had been redecorated, a sofa bed was brought in, and embroidered carpets and canopies were hung outside. Waiters were walking around among the guests, serving drinks to everyone.

But the guests were no longer interested in the wine.

Balda had not yet immersed himself in the lust, but due to his status he could not leave, so he had to lean against a pillar and drink alone.

"Unhappy, sir?"

Connor's sudden appearance with his maid Aqua scared Alderp, and seeing that he also came with a "female companion", Barda probably guessed that he was a little shy and embarrassed to get involved.

So he immediately invited Connor and Aqua to the side hall.

I have to say that this lord's son has a strong ability in dealing with people.

After explaining his disguised identity, Connor gauged Barda's reaction and signaled Aqua to be ready to take action at any time.

"Oh! I wanted to invite you in person, but my father disagreed." Barda opened his arms. "My father wanted to personally deliver the invitation to the guests from the capital, but unfortunately, he is worried about the Demon King's Army recently."

From the other side of the door came the sound of vague music, the laughter of the guests in the corridor, and the hurried and heavy footsteps -

"Catch that sneaky adventurer!"

Kazuma is probably exposed!

Connor stopped talking to Balda and pulled Aqua's hand to press it on Balda's face.

Regardless of whether it has been twisted by the devil or not, it is definitely gone now!

123. If magic can't wake me up, then I know some fists and feet.

As the goddess of water, Aqua's already limited brain had completely lost the ability to think.

Didn't she just need to get closer and observe whether the lord's son Balda showed any signs of being twisted by the devil?

All that’s left is to wait for Connor to trick or kidnap Barda out, and then prove himself to be a god through a series of tedious rituals, and then watch Barda cry bitterly and return to the right path?

How come now she, a goddess, has to do it herself? !

Uh...it doesn’t seem to be considered in person.

Since it was Connor who grabbed her wrist and pressed it against Barda's face, strictly speaking, that should be considered passive?

Or... is this goddess being used as a tool to break the curse...

Unlike Aqua who appeared calm but was actually dazed, Barda's condition after being touched by the goddess could not be said to be intact, but only to be barely alive.

Connor frowned as he saw the changes in Barda, and quickly took a step back to protect Aqua in front of him.

In terms of physical defense alone, Aqua is much stronger than himself. Even Darkness, who can use her body to receive explosion magic, is not as good as Aqua.

Attacks from the mortal world would only cause pain to Aqua, but would not cause actual death.

A large group of irregular black gas suddenly emerged from the body of the lord's son, who was excellent in both his personal life and work, and finally condensed again above his head. It could be vaguely seen that it had a rough human shape, which was most likely the mimicry of the great devil hiding in the lord's mansion, one of the seven dukes of hell.

This ball of black energy that had begun to take human form seemed to be afraid of the divine power in Aqua, as if it was blown crooked by an invisible wind and failed to take root in Barda's body.

After being stripped of the demon's distortion, Balda fell to the ground with his body twitching continuously, leaving countless wrinkles on the exquisite carpet.

Thanks to the fact that the side room was originally set up to provide a secret place for pleasure for those thin-skinned guests, sound insulation was taken into consideration during the design, so Barda's screams were not transmitted.

Balda, who was lying on the ground, felt a piercing pain in his head, as if his head was about to split in half.

He shouted loudly and struggled desperately. In his hallucination, he even felt that his head was covered with blisters. As soon as he put his hands on his head, Barda felt another sharp pain and his eyes went black, but he could still see the civil servant from the capital and his maid.

Was it an assassin? An assassin sent by the king to eliminate him and his son? Did he just poison or curse him?

So shameless, so vicious, so despicable!

"Guards... Guards..." Barda screamed weakly, but his voice only stayed in his ears and could not be heard far away.

【recover】!

Aqua was still a goddess after all. When she came to her senses, she saw Barda in great pain, and cast a recovery spell with sacred magic on the lord's son.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

Unexpectedly, the recovery spell was like boiling oil over a raging fire. When it was poured on Balda, it not only failed to relieve his pain, but instead intensified the confrontation between the two magical powers.

Balda was seen lying on the ground, hunched over in pain, his body feeling as if it had been burned by fire, and it was bright red.

The scream frightened Aqua so much that she protected Connor in front of her. The tall figure of this man who claimed to be a follower of the Axis Cult gave the goddess a lot of sense of security.

Balda didn't twist on the ground for long before foam appeared in his mouth. After flopping a few times, he fainted completely.

A small snake in black, white and grey slowly crawled out of his mouth which was open due to his coma. After being touched by the air outside, it turned into a ball of black gas and dissipated.

"Has he been twisted so badly by the devil?"

After witnessing the entire change in Barda, Aqua already had a conclusion in her mind.

If discovered a few years later, Barda would probably have been completely twisted by the devil into a monster of hell, becoming a life form like the devil, causing the world to permanently lose one human being.

Another recovery spell was cast on Balda. This time, without the hell monster in his body causing trouble, Balda's body quickly showed signs of recovery.

Aqua stretched out her white fingers again and tapped the wine glass. The red wine immediately turned into the clearest holy water.

The goddess handed the holy water and the wine glass to Connor, signaling her believers to complete the next task.