Limestone Town was an ordinary mining town south of the wasteland. By the time the group arrived, it was sunset, and the crimson glow of the dusk stretched the silhouettes of the mountains long.
The captain led the members hurriedly to the local Church of Holy Light to report the situation. After parting ways with them, Ansu immediately rented out an entire inn in a secluded part of town.
The purpose of renting the whole inn was, naturally, to study magic in secret.
Inside the inn's basement, the dim, flickering firelight cast wavering shadows. Ansu sat at a desk with rapt attention, stacks of papers covered in dense ancient script piled haphazardly before him. Not far from his feet was a complex magic circle drawn in crimson blood.
Time to grind!
Ansu's time was currently very tight. He needed to max out the progress bars for three skills—【Ancient Enus】, 【Ritual Magic Knowledge】, and 【Sacrificial Art】—within three days.
Each of these three skills required five hundred proficiency points to master, a task that was nearly impossible. He wished he could split a single day into two...
In fact, that was exactly what he was doing.
Learning progress within the simulation could be inherited. Having already simulated for ten hours plus a twelve-hour retention period, he could squeeze out an extra twenty-two hours of study time.
Ansu had gone into a full-blown overachieving frenzy...
【Ancient Enus (Unmastered) (Progress: 256/500)】
【Ritual Magic Knowledge (Unmastered) (Progress: 280/500)】
【Sacrificial Art (Unmastered) (Progress: 352/500)】
If anyone else saw him now, they would surely be terrified.
Ansu looked exactly like a madman who had become obsessed with magic. His eyes were bloodshot, and a turbulent magical aura surged all over his body...
Any magic above the 3rd Circle was extremely dangerous. If not for the massive boost to his mental strength provided by 【Spiritual Experience Lv2】, he might have truly been tormented into something neither human nor ghost by these things.
Late at night, Limestone Town was silent, as if the whole world had fallen into a deep slumber.
With a soft knock, the wooden door to the basement was slowly pushed open, and the aroma of food suddenly drifted in.
"Ansu..."
Celia walked over with a worried gaze, carrying the dinner and fresh fruit she had prepared for him.
"Hmm?" Ansu was so busy studying that he didn't even have time to look up.
Celia walked to the desk, carefully organizing the papers covered in text and symbols. After tidying them up slightly, she set down the tray.
"You've been studying all night. Take a break and eat something first."
Celia watched Ansu's manic state with concern and spoke softly to persuade him.
"It's already the early hours of the morning. No matter how much you love researching magic, you can't go on like this! You should balance work and rest..."
"Huh?" Ansu looked up. "It's already early morning?"
"Yes." Celia looked at the bloodshot veins in Ansu's eyes, let out a sigh, and gently pushed the food in front of him.
"The inn's chef has already gone home, so I made this for you myself. It's not very fancy, but please eat a little."
Ansu blinked in surprise, his gaze falling on the food.
The Miss Witch had actually made dinner for him with her own hands?
"It looks very fancy to me!" Ansu looked at the concerned Celia, a warmth rising in his heart. He felt it was indeed time to take a break.
The dinner Celia had prepared was indeed quite substantial. The bread and sausages were likely already in the kitchen, but the bowl of vegetable soup and the stewed beef must have been made by her. She had even thoughtfully brought an apple and a small pastry, making it look quite appetizing.
"Wow! I didn't know the Miss Witch's cooking was so amazing!" Ansu praised her with a smile, picking up a spoon to try the vegetable soup first.
Seeing Ansu finally stop studying, Celia breathed a sigh of relief and sat down with a beaming smile.
"Of course. Go ahead and try it!"
Ansu smilingly took a sip of the vegetable soup.
Celia rested her chin on her hands, staring at Ansu without blinking, her face full of expectation.
However, in the next second, the smile on Ansu's face slowly vanished.
"What's wrong?" Celia looked at him, her tone nervous. "Is it not good?"
"No, it's nothing. It's just a bit cold." Ansu forced a smile, but in reality, the taste of that vegetable soup almost made it impossible for him to swallow...
It was incredibly salty. Just how much salt had Celia added...
"Oh? Then let me heat it up for you!" Celia quickly stood up.
"No need, no need..." Ansu stopped her and took a bite of the beef instead.
As the beef entered his mouth, Ansu chewed with difficulty for a moment before swallowing it whole.
This time it wasn't salty, because it was the complete opposite—it had almost no flavor at all... The half-raw texture combined with a completely unseasoned, raw taste made it incredibly hard to choke down...
"Is it good?" Celia asked expectantly again.
"Yes, it's good, it's good..."
This time Ansu switched to the sausages. These 'pre-prepared dishes' that the inn had already processed finally allowed him to eat normally...
"That's good then~"
Seeing her handmade dishes being so popular, the smile on Celia's face wouldn't fade.
Seeing how happily Ansu was eating, she suddenly suggested, "Since you like it so much, should I cook for you more often?"
"Uh..." Ansu struggled to maintain his stiff smile. "Sure, sure..."
He couldn't bear to reject such a considerate and virtuous Miss Witch...
However, his heart had already entered full complaint mode...
Before being adopted by Samantha and living a good life, Celia had lived on her own for a long time. She shouldn't be this unfamiliar with handling ingredients, right?
As Ansu ate, he silently watched Celia, thinking that her air of someone whose fingers had never touched dishwater was truly that of a natural-born noblewoman...
He couldn't help but think about the origins of this pseudo-'Eldest Miss.'
Because Samantha had found someone specifically to train her in noble etiquette, Celia's usual aura was indeed elegant and refined, making it impossible for anyone to tell she came from the lower classes or had experience living on the streets.
But it was precisely because of this background that Celia didn't have the hypocrisy and arrogance of a real noble. Instead, she had a... charm that Ansu found exceptionally unique and captivating.
After eating a bit of food, Ansu continued his studies.
Celia didn't plan on leaving. She leaned over the desk, boredly flipping through Ansu's handwriting and occasionally looking up to check on his state.
That focus, which bordered on being manic, still left her unable to feel at ease.
She was worried that Ansu, who kept researching profound black magic without stopping, might show signs of magic deviation...
"This should be some kind of long-lost black magic sacrificial ritual, right?" Her gaze fixed on the twisted magic circle on the floor. "And... this ancient script you're using, I remember it being the Ancient Enus of the ancient demon race..."
Celia finally asked the doubt that had been weighing on her mind all night. "Ansu... how did you learn all this? I remember that my bookshelves didn't have any magic texts of this kind..."
"Oh, this." Ansu didn't look up, continuing his research as he explained, "Remember the time the Church of Holy Light suppressed the Squirrel Party? Many demon remnants hiding behind the scenes were caught because of that."
"I remember," Celia nodded.
Ansu, of course, chose to push everything onto the demon remnants, as this was indeed their magic.
"The Church of Holy Light confiscated many ancient demon texts at the time, including these. Originally, they were all supposed to be destroyed, but I had Freya secretly bring a few to me. It would be a pity if these lost magic texts were truly destroyed..."
"Oh, really?" Celia's focus shifted to Freya instead. "Speaking of which... she really is loyal to you, Lord Chosen One, isn't she? She's already gone against the Church to help you several times now."
Ansu couldn't help but look up, only to see Celia slightly narrowing her eyes, giving him a scrutinizing look.
"Freya is indeed very dedicated to the tasks I give her, but there's no other way. That is her mission..." Ansu explained with a smile. "Since I have this status as the Chosen One, it's better to make good use of it. I think the Holy Maiden's loyalty is actually a good thing for our cause!"
Our cause... Celia's eyes flickered slightly, and then she let out a helpless sigh.
"I know..."
"And you have indeed used this status... to obtain a lot of internal intelligence from the Church of Holy Light. But... this can't go on forever..."
She hated Ansu's status as the Chosen One.
She also hated that Holy Maiden Freya, who was so incredibly loyal to him.
Right now it was just loyalty, but in the future... there was no telling what it might turn into! Celia's wariness toward the woman named Freya had reached its limit.
Because she was the Holy Maiden of the Church, and Ansu was the Chosen One selected by the righteous god, they were naturally the closest partners in the same faction...
While she, a cultist, seemed more like an interloper trying to stop them from being together...
Celia suddenly felt a bit troubled. Ansu's status as the Chosen One was like a thorn stuck in her heart... That old anxiety surfaced once again.
Ansu looked at Celia, whose eyes were clouded with uncertainty, and knew she was overthinking things again. He put down his research and waved his hand in front of her eyes.
"Alright, alright, don't think so much!"
He checked the time. It was already three-thirty in the morning. He couldn't see the sky from the basement, but it would be getting light outside soon.
"This plan of mine can't work without your cooperation. Come with me to the Church of Holy Light in a bit!"
"Huh?" Celia looked at the suddenly energetic Ansu in shock, her brow furrowing. "What time is it? Aren't you going to sleep?"
"How can I have the mind to sleep..." Ansu thought about the next part of his plan and quickly got up to put on his coat. "Let's go, let's go! I'll come back and sleep after we're done! I promise!"
Celia stared at the dark circles under Ansu's eyes, her expression quite angry, and her tone became heavier. "When you get back, you must sleep properly! Otherwise, your body won't be able to take it!"
"Yeah, don't worry!" Ansu gave her a look of 'assurance.' "I'll definitely rest after I get back and won't research magic anymore. Now, come with me!"
Celia let out a helpless sigh and could only follow.
Rate on N.U.
