After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

Aize sighed and looked at Villian again:

"So, what is this all about?"

"Miss Alicia told me yesterday that she hopes to help you with more than just observation. I thought about it and this is the most suitable way to help you~"

Miss Witch blinked and said so with a smug look on her face.

"What the hell is that?! No matter how you look at it, it looks like they're just making fun of people."

"Also, I also want to hand Aize over to someone I can trust."

"……what happened?"

Villian's expression suddenly became serious, followed by a look of pain. She covered her chest and mouth and coughed desperately.

"Ahem...actually, I discovered yesterday that the magic spell engraved on my body by the demons hasn't been completely dispelled. My previous actions triggered the emergency mechanism. Ahem..."

As he spoke, a trace of red liquid even seeped out from the cracks in his palms.

"I've tried, but there's no way to remove it. I might only have a few days left to live, so before that... cough cough - I have to entrust Ai Ze's affairs to Miss Alicia, cough cough cough -"

"..."

It's really like that.

If Aize hadn't smelled the ketchup, he might have believed it.

Last time, it was the same thing, I just used ketchup to mess things up.

I bought a lot of ketchup at home, but I didn’t eat much of it because I used it all as blood bags.

And Violet wasn't done yet.

Seeing Aize's expressionless face and increasingly cold eyes, she simply lay down on the ground, pretending to curl up into a ball, her brows furrowed in pain.

"I'm dying... I can't breathe, I'm dying... If Aize doesn't come and hug me in his butler uniform, I'm going to die now..."

Maid + butler, this guy's composition is really pure.

If I continue to fool around with her on this topic, it will feel like it will never end.

Let’s stop it now.

"...Well acted, so what's the truth?"

"It's really boring~"

Villian stood up from the ground, folding her arms with a look of regret on her face.

"According to your world... uh, the movies, in this kind of terminal illness scenario, shouldn't the hero burst into tears, hug the heroine, and desperately confess his love?"

Aize covered his face.

"What do you expect me to do when there are other people around?"

"Oh? So, if no one else is around, it's okay?"

"..."

He said the wrong thing in a moment of excitement, causing Aize to lose his temper instantly and fall into a passive position.

But fortunately, Villian didn't intend to make a big fuss about it.

After admiring Aize's troubled expression for a while, she stood up from the ground, put away her smile, put on a more serious attitude, and said:

"As I mentioned before, I've already finished writing the magic textbooks that will be used in the academy. However, the content is ultimately just my opinion as a witch. If you're going to teach humans and hybrids, it would be best to listen to the opinions of other magicians."

The witches are physically weak, but in return they have extremely strong control over magic power.

While humans need to carefully guide the dangerous torrent of magic, for witches, driving it is no more difficult than moving their hands and feet.

So, the difference is something that must be taken into consideration.

Villian is also very concerned about this.

"I've already informed Sheen. He'll arrange for the members of the city's Magicians Guild branch to meet with the combat magicians in the garrison to review the content I've compiled."

As she spoke, the witch waved a bound book.

"It might take several days to review and revise it, and I won't be able to spend much time with you during that time. If an assassin were to strike during that time, wouldn't that be fatal?"

The assassins naturally refer to the people sent by former teammate Rosaline.

A few days ago, after leaving such a blunt threat, Aize made a lot of preparations.

The house's defense measures have been upgraded, and the guards' patrol routes and mechanisms have also been improved.

Aize even deliberately revealed some flaws, waiting for the other party to make a move.

However, things went against our wishes. Several days passed without any movement.

Aize began to doubt whether he had wronged her.

Of course, this is far from the time to relax. After the previous failure, the other party may just be looking for opportunities more cautiously.

For example, this time, when Villian was not with Aize.

Of course, Miss Witch would not allow anyone to take advantage of her weakness to attack Aize, so she won over Alicia.

Aize cast a questioning look at the pink-haired girl, and the girl nodded vigorously with a red face.

"I already understand the situation. Anyway, I won't let anyone hurt Aize!"

This guy said he understood, so why does it sound so unsettling?

...No, it's a bit ungrateful to think that the other party is doing this for your own good.

"Thank you."

Aize nodded honestly, then looked at Villian:

"I understand the logic, but there's no reason to wear a maid outfit, right?!"

"No way, isn't this perfect? It's so cute I'm almost jealous~"

Miss Witch flashed to Alicia's side, frowned and gently pinched her face.

“Is this an appropriate question?!”

"Okay, don't take it so seriously. Just think of this as part of your disguise. Staying by your side as a maid won't arouse suspicion, right?"

There is some truth in this statement.

As expected of one of the thirteen former leaders, his considerations are truly more thoughtful than those of the average person...

"And, besides, maids and butlers—they're free people, yet they have to obey their masters even if they don't want to. Isn't that exciting, just like puppets?"

The witch lady who said this had her eyes shining, and even her breathing became gradually rapid, as if some kind of fanatical emotion could no longer be controlled.

Okay, I take that back.

It has little to do with being thoughtful or not, it’s purely the guy’s personal taste.

The butler costume, since Aize doesn't dislike it anyway, why not try it next time you have the chance?

Let’s talk about it later, anyway.

"...Forget it, that's it."

He sighed softly.

Then he stood up from his seat, turned to the window and looked at the night view outside.

At present, the matters at hand, whether it is expanding one's own forces or investigating the slave traders, are all progressing smoothly.

The only thing is the incident of the blood plague in the royal capital, which is still shrouded in mystery.

Putting aside the conflict between himself and Heidi, Aize could not ignore this incident which concerned the lives of the people in the city, the development of the entire human race, and might be related to a demon leader.

However, up to now, there has been no further valuable intelligence.

There is no way to intervene.

If we allow those nobles to continue to act recklessly, we really don’t know how things will develop.

But——

"…Why should I worry about this?"

If we talk about being anxious, Heidi must be more anxious than me.

Although that guy's mind was as stubborn as a block of granite when it came to his understanding of the nobility, no one could deny his unwavering will.

Would she, such a person, do nothing for so many days and lock herself in the capital, waiting to die?

nonexistent.

So, at least for now, all we have to do is wait.

----------

After running out of the noble mansion that was guarded by the enemy, Heidi did not stop. She took advantage of the moonlight to directly cross the city wall and ran towards the place where the other party kept slaves.

Until she left the city, the lord's mansion was quiet and there was no commotion.

The guests continued to play music and dance, and no one noticed that the host was dead.

This bunch of rubbish is so lame, it's really a big help.

As Heidi moved forward unhindered, a barn that was quite large but looked very dilapidated appeared before her.

At first glance, it seemed to be part of a deserted village, and there were no lights.

But Heidi, who was extremely vigilant, hid herself and observed carefully, and indeed found the problem.

In the dark night, in the surrounding abandoned houses, on the roofs, and in the bushes, there were quite a number of armed figures hiding.

Heidi, who possesses the senses of a hero, can easily see through it, but if it is just a passerby, it really won't be noticed.

Looks like I've found the right place.

Normally, the slaves waiting to be transported should be in the barn.

But what to do next?

Bypass these guys' sentries, sneak in and blend into the slave pile?

Or simply lie in ambush on the roadside, waiting for the other party's transport vehicle to arrive before taking action?

In the face of severe intelligence shortages, either option is risky.

So it should be...

"Um--?"

Suddenly, there was some rustling noise in the bushes behind.

Heidi, who was extremely alert, immediately hid behind a tree. After confirming that the surrounding sentries were not alarmed, she breathed a sigh of relief.

He leaned out half of his body and looked towards the place where the sound came from.

In her sight, a little girl with horns on her head, who looked like a mixed-race, crawled out from the bushes in tattered clothes and was directly exposed to the surveillance range of the secret sentry.

Chapter 30: Too weak is also a problem

It seems that the little girl sneaked out from the barn in front of her.

Heidi didn't have time to think about how she did it when she looked so clumsy.

Because she was completely unaware, she was now under the surveillance of the secret sentry.

The moment some of the slave traders turned their eyes to her, Heidi leaned out from behind the tree, covered the enemy's mouth, and dragged him to her hiding place.

When the sentries looked over, they saw only the gently swaying trees.

In the dim moonlight, this slight abnormality was completely ignored and did not cause any commotion.

He heaved a sigh of relief and lowered his head to look at the little girl who was restrained by him.

The other party thought that Heidi couldn't move or make any sound.