After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

He touched his chest impatiently.

Gone!

I couldn't wait to touch it down there.

Got it!

Only then did I finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Apparently, the effect of the witch potion is considered a poison in the eyes of the Hero's Protection, so the recovery speed is much faster than expected.

It's considered lucky.

After being relieved, there comes anger.

Aize said nothing, but with an anger that would scare even the Demon King away, he came to Villian.

Villian, as if waking from a dream, held her head with a bewildered look on her face.

"Hey, what was I doing just now!?"

"Don't play dumb! You don't know what you're doing, and I don't know where the fuck—"

This time Aize was really annoyed.

As a man, if you are really toyed with in a feminine situation, you may suffer from lifelong psychological trauma.

Villian scratched her hair awkwardly.

"No, how should I put it? Aize was so cute when she turned into a girl. I couldn't control myself for a moment. When I came to my senses, I was already... uh, sorry..."

Boys are praised for being cute when they become girls.

The mood is quite complicated.

Aize held his forehead and sighed.

"Anyway, that's all for the potion. I have to go talk to Groot about tonight... By the way, Villian, is the black cat your only familiar?"

Villian blinked and shook her head:

"No, there are others, like Owl, Black Dog and so on. What's wrong?"

Chapter 73 Interior Loyalty

After experiencing the fear of almost losing his virginity, Aize calmed down and went to discuss what would happen in the evening with Grote.

Relying on his own strength and Villian's strength, he should be able to kill the attacker easily, but this would probably not completely eliminate the opponent.

Therefore, it is necessary to convince the people in the village to play the long game and catch the big fish.

Considering the bad attitude of those people before, direct negotiations are unlikely to have any good results. It is better to persuade Groot first.

However, Villian suddenly interrupted Aize midway through his words:

"Aize, Xien is here to see you."

"What, at a time like this?"

"It seems there's an emergency."

There was no other way, so Aize could only temporarily interrupt the conversation with Groot, go to a deserted place in the village, find a tree, lie down at the roots, and close his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already sitting in the living room of the Tafia mansion, with Sheen sitting across from him.

This was not a direct teleportation back using some kind of space magic, but rather Villian transferred Aize's consciousness to the puppet left in the house.

In this way, even if they are far apart, he can achieve a certain degree of dual-line operation.

The only drawback is that Villian's energy is limited and she cannot access both her own consciousness and Aize's consciousness at the same time.

Therefore, he and Aize's puppet cannot see people at the same time.

Sheen looked anxious and irritated, which was quite rare for him.

Aize didn't waste any more words and asked quickly:

"Xion, what happened?"

"Rodrick is dead."

The unexpected news made Aize stunned for a moment:

"……what?"

"He was found dead in his office this morning. He had slit his throat with a knife. He died last night. On the surface, it looked like suicide."

"But what about the reality?"

Sheen gave a mocking smile and shook his head.

"I know that bastard. He's greedy, cowardly, and self-righteous. He's not the type to commit suicide out of fear of punishment. This is 100% a murder by the guild to silence him."

"Um……"

Aize just nodded and said nothing, while Xien quickly said:

"The problem is, the guild's reaction is more intense than expected. They want to suppress this situation at all costs, so you and Miss Vivian may be in danger!"

Generally speaking, this is true.

The other party was so cruel that they even killed their own people, so how could they let go of Aize, the "scholar" who was against them?

"Mr. Ain, my guards are waiting outside the door. I strongly suggest that you and Miss Vivian stay in my house for a while and come back after this is over."

For Sheen, the guild's intense reaction was something he had never anticipated.

It would be unacceptable if this couple lost their lives because of my own affairs.

But after thinking for a while, Aize shook his head:

"Thank you for your kindness, but I don't think it's necessary."

"But--"

"It's okay, it's okay. Didn't you see what happened at the restaurant earlier? I do know a little bit about swordsmanship, so it won't be that easy for the guild to take my life."

Having said that, Aize added:

"Besides, the guild has silenced Roderick. Maybe they're just trying to keep things quiet. They don't necessarily mean to kill me, do they?"

Xien looked at Aize with a complicated expression, and after a moment of hesitation, he sighed deeply:

"...If you think so, I won't force you. I'll have some guards stationed here permanently. This is my bottom line, so please don't refuse."

It was hard to refuse such a kind offer, so Aize nodded without refusing.

Xien took a sip of the teacup on the table, his expression relaxed a little, and he changed the subject:

"By the way, Ain, do you know Duke Brian?"

The familiar title made Aize frown slightly, but he quickly nodded as if nothing had happened.

"I've heard of him. He seems to be one of the most powerful nobles in the kingdom. What happened to him?"

"Duke Brian will arrive in Tafia soon."

"……oh?"

Xien didn't notice the subtle change in Aize's expression and continued:

"Bryan's family has always been on good terms with our Edgar family, so I'm planning to host a grand banquet to welcome him this time. I've already started planning it today. Would you be willing to attend?"

Aize thought for a moment and said with a wry smile:

"I'm afraid it's not appropriate for someone of my status to meet with the Duke."

"That's not true. Excellent people are respected everywhere. How can you say your status is inappropriate?"

"...Uh, I'm a little nervous now. Should I...think about it for a moment?"

"of course."

After the two chatted casually for a while, Sheen left.

Aize closed his eyes, and his consciousness returned to his body. He patted his clothes and stood up.

Villian, who was in charge of transmitting consciousness, had of course also seen the previous conversation and asked:

"What do you think? The president was killed."

Aize shrugged and said nonchalantly:

"Who knows? Anyway, I think it's unlikely that it was done by the guild."

"Oh?"

"The guild will kill him either immediately after the party that day, or later, when the evidence is solid and Sheen is ready to arrest him."

As he spoke, Aize showed a mocking smile and raised his thumb to gesture to his neck.

"To commit suicide out of fear of punishment, the timing is so strange. Even stranger than that, Duke Brian coming to Tafia is even stranger."

Duke Brian, not only did Aize know him, but because of Heidi, they had met quite a few times and even collaborated on some things.

however--

"That Duke Brian seems to be colluding with the demons? I heard this when I was the Great Witch and even used the intelligence he sent me."

Villian said so.

In response to this, Aize just smiled disdainfully:

"Do you need to tell me that Duke Brian is colluding with the demons? It's so obvious, who wouldn't know it?"

"I know it, but this is officially certified by the former thirteen leaders!"

The Duke, whom Heidi trusted highly and regarded as her right-hand man, was far from being as simple and loyal as she thought.

It can even be said that he is extremely ambitious.

He did not participate in the previous palace coup, but in Aize's opinion, it was not because he did not want to, but because he was too weak.

Because he was weak, even if he succeeded in forcing the emperor to abdicate, he would have no chance of seizing the throne.

Therefore, he has been lying dormant, pretending to be a loyal minister helping the royal family, but in fact he does not want anyone else to come to power.

To put it bluntly, he is a traitor pretending to be a loyal minister, just waiting for the rebels and the lord to fight to the death.

In order to balance out his lack of strength, he had already colluded with the demons.

The time point is even earlier than when Aize became a hero.

Therefore, his coming to Tafia at this time was definitely not for any good purpose.

Thinking of this, Aize sighed:

"That girl Heidi, she doesn't really expect this kind of guy to help her, does she?"

(A new month has arrived, please support me with your monthly tickets┗(｀ー′)┓, there will be another update today)

Chapter 74 Trust Me More

At this point, Villian became a little curious.

"Since you knew that guy was a problem, why didn't you kill him?"

As the highest-ranking duke among the nobles, Brian holds a high position of power and has extensive interpersonal relationships. The blood relationships involved through marriage are as complicated as a spider web.

It is almost impossible to expose and judge him through proper means.

But as far as Villian knew, Aize was not a person who paid attention to procedural justice.

His ability to arrange "accidental deaths" for others is no less than that of the Adventurer's Guild.

It was incredible that Brian had survived two years in his hands.

In response to this, Aize sighed:

"It doesn't matter. Even if he's a traitor, even if he has ill intentions, he objectively helped Heidi consolidate her position and helped me check and balance the other nobles."

Choose the lesser of two evils. Killing him will only cause more problems.

As he spoke, Aize leaned against the tree trunk, looked at the sky above his head and shrugged: