Ansu's Time Gap

After the two of them killed the shadow wolf king, the scene of the monsters dispersing as they had imagined did not immediately occur.

The pack continued to besiege the abandoned village for quite some time, and it wasn't until around two in the afternoon that they finally showed signs of scattering.

As the monsters surrounding the village gradually retreated, Ansu looked toward the distant wasteland and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn't that he found these monsters particularly difficult to deal with—with his coordination with the Miss Witch earlier, the two of them had practically gone on a killing spree—but rather that he was annoyed by how much time these creatures were wasting.

"Let's head back. I have something to discuss with the captain," Ansu said, his gaze falling on their hands, which were still tightly interlocked.

"Mhm," Celia nodded.

Ansu remained silent for a moment.

"What is it?" Celia looked at him in confusion.

Ansu flashed a teasing smile. "Does the Miss Witch want to keep holding hands forever?"

Celia's cheeks, which had only recently cooled down, began to flush again. She turned her face away and brushed Ansu's hand off with annoyance.

"Who was the one acting all clingy just now, insisting on holding my hand? You certainly have some nerve!"

"Uh... didn't I say I have something to talk to the captain about?" Ansu gave a sheepish laugh as he looked at the sulking Miss Witch. "It's not great to keep holding hands in front of outsiders, like we're flaunting our affection or something."

"Fine, I get it," Celia nodded softly, taking a step ahead of him toward the group.

Ansu followed helplessly behind her.

"How about... we keep holding hands after all?" He quietly brushed his fingers against Celia's.

"No!" Celia pursed her lips and moved her hand away. "It's not great to keep holding hands in front of outsiders, like we're flaunting our affection or something!"

Ansu looked at the Miss Witch, who had suddenly become temperamental, and let out a chuckle.

"Really not holding?"

"Not holding."

"Oh..." Ansu stole a glance at the expressionless Miss Witch and reached out again.

As it turned out, despite what Celia said, she allowed him to take her hand without any resistance.

Squeezing that fair, slender little hand in his palm, Ansu gave it a playful knead. "Let's just flaunt it then. Who cares what they think!"

Celia let out a huff. "You always have an excuse for everything!"

Though her tone remained sulky, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn upward slightly.

Ansu sighed silently in his heart.

Sigh, witches.

Sigh, women...

...

Back inside the village, almost everyone in the resting squad was injured. The captain was leading a few clergymen who still had strength left to treat the seriously wounded, but after continuous fighting, the light of their Holy Light divine arts had grown quite dim.

Seeing the young couple who had been a huge help walking over hand-in-hand, the captain showed a grateful expression.

"You two, thanks to you earlier. I really didn't expect... that you were both such powerful transcendents."

"Don't mention it, it's what we should have done," Ansu laughed, then began to speak to the captain about his 'discovery.'

"I'm not sure if you noticed earlier, but that pack of monsters seemed to be acting under unified commands..."

Ansu looked toward the distant wasteland with feigned confusion. "The two of us killed the shadow wolf king just now. Logically, the pack should have dispersed immediately, but they kept harassing us... and it even seemed like more monsters were arriving as reinforcements."

"I noticed it too..." The captain's expression was equally suspicious. "And there were at least three different species among them, which is almost impossible in a natural environment."

"There must be a black mage skilled in enchantment magic pulling the strings from behind," Celia said with certainty. Although such magic was relatively niche, the abnormal behavior of those monsters and the faint surges of mana could not escape her eyes.

"Is that so?" The captain looked startled. "I don't know as much about magic as you do, but if that's the case... there's definitely a conspiracy afoot."

Ansu intended to lead the other party toward the truth, but directly stating that the demon race was behind it would surely arouse suspicion. So, after a moment of reflection, he spoke slowly.

"Captain, I've heard a rumor before. I heard that a territory on the northern border was invaded by a large number of monsters. Those creatures were incredibly ferocious and even spread a plague, eventually leading to a sharp decline in the population. In the end, the entire territory fell into the hands of a neighboring lord with ill intentions..."

In the early stages of the plot, this was what Barcas excelled at most.

The combination of bribery and cultivation plus leading monsters into the territory allowed this future Shadow King to seize a lot of land. He had quietly amassed great power even before the Novalon Empire fell into internal strife.

"Something like that happened in the north?" The captain was somewhat shocked and fell into deep thought. "The battle just now was indeed abnormal. It seems the squad's original plan needs to change..."

He immediately looked at the vice-captain beside him. "The nearest large settlement is Limestone Town. There is a church of our Church of Holy Light there. We must report this situation to prevent things from becoming even more serious."

"Captain..." The vice-captain narrowed his eyes suspiciously, pulled the captain aside, and whispered, "Even we didn't know about this matter in the north, yet they seem remarkably well-informed. Besides... they've been hiding the fact that they can use magic until now..."

The whispering of these two naturally did not escape Celia's ears. She let out a cold snort and directly interrupted them.

"We are both legal magic casters. We didn't step in before simply because we didn't want to go looking for trouble."

"Secondly, being well-informed shouldn't be surprising for someone of my status, should it?"

The captain looked over curiously. "Ms. Hailey, you mean..."

"This is the eldest daughter of the Lawrence family, Hailey Lawrence," Professor Duncan assisted from the side. "I don't need to introduce the Lawrence family further, do I? They are a prominent noble family in the Royal Capital!"

"The Lawrence family..." The captain quickly took a serious look at the young lady, his expression becoming much more cautious.

The Lawrence family was a meritorious noble family from the early days of the Novalon Empire's founding. Although they had declined significantly and were largely away from the center of power, the name was still very prestigious.

Ansu saw the instant change in their expressions and laughed inwardly.

He had to admit, Samantha had actually done a good thing. The name Hailey Lawrence had saved Celia from who knows how much trouble, as noble status carried considerable weight in this world.

After discussing with the vice-captain for a while, the captain looked at the two of them again.

"Miss Hailey, Mr. Ansu." His smile was much more sincere. "Our expedition squad has decided to rest in Limestone Town for a while. The mission to find the ancient demon ruins might be put on hold for the time being. What do you two think?"

"We'll go with you," Ansu replied.

Hearing this, Celia squeezed Ansu's finger, looking at him with slight confusion in her eyes.

The other party choosing to leave on their own was a perfect opportunity to split up.

Ansu gave her a 'I know what I'm doing' look and looked back at the captain.

"The wasteland is full of monsters, and it's not safe for us to stay here alone. So, we'll follow you to Limestone Town to recuperate."

"However, I want to clarify in advance that Miss Hailey is our employer, and she takes this trip to find ancient ruins very seriously. If the expedition squad is delayed for too long, we don't rule out the possibility of setting off on our own."

"Of course, that's fine," the captain nodded, indicating there was no problem.

After resting in the abandoned village for a bit, the group continued their journey. Because they wanted to reach the town before nightfall, they moved quickly.

Celia leaned closer to Ansu, who was riding Radish, and asked quietly, "Why do you insist on going to Limestone Town with them?"

Ansu gave a mysterious smile. "Because I have a good plan."

No matter how he calculated it, he didn't have enough sacrifices, so he decided to lure the remnants of the demon army over in advance.

Ansu intended to 'maneuver' a bit after arriving at Limestone Town.

According to information obtained from the cultists captured in the simulation, the Echoes of Truth cult would only receive Samantha's orders the day after tomorrow to begin gathering at the ruins to hunt him and Celia down. Within these two days, they weren't cult traitors yet; they were still 'allies' of the demon remnants.

This gave him a perfect opportunity to exploit the time gap and pull some strings in secret...

Limestone Town was bound to become quite 'lively' very soon.

"Working on more schemes again..." Celia watched the wicked grin on Ansu's face as his thoughts drifted elsewhere and shook her head helplessly.