After Ansu shared his thoughts with Celia, she let out a cold sneer.
"This Leonard actually hid himself so deeply; he must have known about Terry's conspiracy long ago and was quietly waiting for this brawl at the Royal Academy, hoping both sides would end up crippled."
Ansu thought back to the Academy Tragedy that had already occurred in the simulation.
He remembered that for some unknown reason, Terry's God-Descent had never been cast, which gave the Echoes of Truth a rare breathing room and even allowed Elder Samantha to narrowly escape by borrowing the powerful mana of the magic circle...
Perhaps that was Leonard's doing as well. After all, if Terry had succeeded, he truly would have become a great hero and the widely recognized restorer of the Church.
The conversation between the two left Freya standing frozen in place, stunned.
She covered her slightly parted mouth, her eyes filled with disbelief. "Is... is this true? Is Archbishop Leonard really that insidious... secretly pushing the entire conspiracy forward?"
Ansu looked at Freya's expression and nodded silently to her.
Freya lowered her head in dejection. "How could this be... what has happened to these respected archbishops? If this really happened, how many people in the school would have died?"
Ansu sighed inwardly, suddenly feeling a bit of sympathy for this pure and kind girl.
The Church had always been a sacred place in Freya's heart, but today, these archbishops who usually acted more righteous than the last had been exposed one after another, revealing their darkest and most despicable sides to her...
It was nothing short of a total collapse of her worldview.
"Ansu, I..." Freya's eyes grew red. She had many things she wanted to say, but she didn't dare speak them in front of an outsider.
"This is the world of humans; you must learn to get used to it." Ansu didn't know how else to comfort her; Freya's first lesson had come three years earlier than in the original plot.
He could only say in a soft tone, "Go back for now. With so much happening today, the Church will likely be very busy. They'll need all the help they can get."
By keeping busy, she wouldn't have time to dwell on these messy thoughts.
"Okay," Freya nodded gently.
Ansu's voice seemed to give her a sense of stability all at once.
That's right... there was still Lord Ansu.
If it weren't for him, those two insidious archbishops would have certainly succeeded. It was Lord Ansu who prevented the tragedy from happening.
It was a good thing she had found Lord Ansu!
Even if the Church had become so filthy and corrupt, she believed that Lord Ansu could definitely change everything!
Her pale gold eyes regained their luster. As if she had reached an epiphany, Freya waved goodbye to Ansu with a soft smile.
"Ansu, I'll head back first then! Goodbye!"
"Yes, goodbye."
After Freya left, Ansu looked at Celia, thinking it was probably time for her to leave as well.
It was already very late, and he still had to go home to tell his sister he was safe.
However, he saw that Celia was currently sizing him up with an unfriendly gaze...
"You're quite good at comforting people, aren't you?"
"Uh..." Ansu looked helpless. "Does that even count as comforting? My Lady Witch, I was just telling her to go back first..."
"But your voice was so gentle when you spoke to her!" Celia suddenly leaned in close, carefully scrutinizing Ansu's reaction. "You dare speak to her like that in front of me... who knows how much more forward you might be when I'm not around!"
Seeing that flawless, beautiful face leaning in close, Ansu didn't have the slightest thought of appreciation. Subconsciously, he thought the vile witch was going to subject him to another hypnosis test.
But after a moment of tension, Ansu noticed that her eyes were still deep purple.
Hmm... it seemed that at some point, Celia had indeed reduced the number of times she hypnotized him.
She seemed to have become very trusting of him.
"My Lady Witch, that's just my speaking style... Don't I treat everyone gently? All my classmates know that!" Ansu made up an excuse while trying to change the subject.
"Besides... it's not easy to establish a connection with Holy Maiden Freya. Our organization has tried for so many years and never managed to penetrate the high-level ranks of the Church..." Ansu shrugged, his tone quite proud. "As it turns out, one move from me is more effective than all the elders of the Council of Elders combined."
"Why are you comparing yourself to those idiots in the Council of Elders?" Celia rolled her eyes, her tone as disdainful as usual.
"But speaking of the cult..." Her brow furrowed slightly. "Regarding Terry's matter, I must quickly return to report to my teacher and dig out the cult traitor."
Celia glanced at the sky outside. In another two hours, it would be dawn.
"Alright, if there's nothing else, I'm leaving."
She gave a casual wave of her hand.
"Alright, sounds good." Ansu waited with great anticipation for her departure.
However, halfway out, she suddenly turned back.
"You're quite smooth at changing the subject!" Celia snorted coldly. "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Once I'm done with this matter, I'll come back and deal with you!"
She would deal with him thoroughly!
Ansu timely put on an expression that said, 'Please don't, My Lady Witch!'
Celia suppressed a smile, gave him a sharp look, and finally disappeared into the night.
...
Time passed unnoticed into the late hours of the night.
There was no longer any public transportation back to the Black Harbor District. Ansu waited on the empty street for a long time before finally flagging down an expensive hired carriage.
Arriving in front of the dilapidated house at 221A, Ansu pulled out his key.
But before he could even put the key into the lock, the door suddenly swung open.
"Brother, you're finally back..."
Vera's eyes were slightly dark underneath, her small face full of weariness. She likely hadn't slept at all while he was away.
When she saw Ansu return safely, she breathed a sigh of relief, though she couldn't help but feel curious.
"Were you out on a mission with that big sister Freya again today? Did you catch the bad guys?"
Ansu's consecutive nights away from home had already made his sister very dissatisfied, and she had been sulking at him all day.
To keep Vera from worrying further, Ansu had disclosed some information to her, saying that two departments were conducting a joint operation to help Freya's side capture a villain within the Church.
The three of them had indeed been busy with this matter for the past few days. Aside from Celia's identity being a bit problematic, the explanation was quite reasonable.
"Yes, we caught the bad guy." Ansu gently stroked Vera's hair. Vera didn't dodge his large hand as she usually did; instead, she pulled him into the living room.
"Brother, what was that bad guy like? Do bad people appear in the Church too? Tell me quickly!"
Vera's sleepiness seemed to have vanished. Her large eyes were wide and round, her small face filled with curiosity.
Ansu couldn't help but laugh. His sister was quite curious about these adventurous tales, not at all like other girls her age.
He also noticed that Vera would even sneak peeks at his book of magic. Although she seemed worried on the surface that this 'evil book' would cause trouble, she was inwardly full of interest in the mysterious world and transcendent power.
Ansu silently watched Vera, who was listening with her chin resting on her hands. Perhaps her nature destined her to walk toward the transcendent world.
Was his protection of her perhaps a bit excessive?
Rate on N.U.
