Chapter 209: Dark Tides Rising

Ansu continued flipping through the pages, the handwriting in the following days gradually becoming hurried and scrawled, indicating that the situation was deteriorating rapidly.

【Day 3: The Church's actions were far more sudden than estimated. Clergy and fully armed city guards formed small squads to conduct "witch-hunt" style sweeps and arrests.】

【"Dangerous demihumans" and "potential black mages" could be seen everywhere on the streets being taken away and escorted to a secret prison in the south of the city. Gunshots rang out from morning to night, and the streets visibly withered as the entire city lived in fear.】

【Fortunately, thanks to the fake identity of the Lawrence family, the Church did not forcibly break into the magic lab within the manor, only ordering it to be closed. The Witch was so angry she almost couldn't resist teleporting over to start a massacre.】

【I rushed to the Mutual Aid Tavern with Vera, but it was a mess. The president, Old Lady Brenda, and all the members of the Mutual Aid Association present at the time had been taken away.】

【The newly formed Northern Holy Light Inquisition began large-scale convictions and trials with extreme efficiency. President Brenda was swiftly convicted as a "bewitching evil witch," a "heretic inciting black mages," and a "heinous cult leader." (If I didn't know better, I'd think they were talking about Samantha from the Echoes of Truth...)】

【Valger, who was lucky enough not to be on-site, escaped with a few other members of the association.】

【President Brenda was tragically executed by burning.】

【I met urgently with the others at a secret hideout to discuss countermeasures.】

【The deaths of the president and many mage colleagues caused hatred to spread. Valger was the most emotional; his eyes were bloodshot and he was filled with uncontrollable rage. I truly wondered if he would rush onto the streets tomorrow and run to the City Lord's Mansion or the Church of Holy Light to detonate a magic bomb...】

Ansu couldn't help but recall the past atmosphere of the Mutual Aid Tavern. Though the atmosphere of their discussions was sometimes a bit too "tavern-and-bread.jpg" it was generally quite warm... because that president really was a rare, good person.

The tavern had taken in many desperate, low-level mages and demihumans from the bottom of society. What it provided was not just a cup of cheap barley beer; the Mutual Aid Tavern was more like the last haven for these discriminated groups in Norvigel.

Once this haven was completely destroyed, it was replaced by a bone-deep hatred fermented from despair.

【Some asked me if I wanted to seek revenge against the Church, while others studied ways to assassinate the Count with me. Valger, being the most senior, became everyone's backbone. But unexpectedly, Valger, who was the most likely to simply explode, chose to endure instead.】

【Because he has a daughter.】

【I heard from others that Valger's daughter is suffering from a serious illness, which sounds somewhat similar to the condition of Danielle's husband, Sean.】

【Valger clutched his hair, falling into a state of despondency. He said the association was finished, and if his research was also cut off, he would completely lose his only hope of paying those expensive medical fees. He planned to move elsewhere to develop; Benalu City, with its flourishing magitech industry, might be a good choice... Everyone cursed him as a coward and a weakling.】

Ansu's thoughts returned to the present. It was now basically certain: Valger was the designer of the magic principles behind the future Great Explosion of Norvigel.

And the person providing the investment behind him was, of course, Barcas.

As for what exactly made Valger, who originally intended to swallow his pride, change his mind and ultimately assist Barcas in creating that world-ending explosion...

Perhaps it was still related to his daughter, but due to a lack of clues, it was only a guess for now.

【To figure everything out, the best way is to keep a close eye on this core focal point and enter the game personally.】

【I must keep a firm watch on Valger, even if it means being arrested with him. Only then can I uncover Barcas's complete plan and even find the lurking Squirrel Party, or even Barcas himself.】

As his memories became clearer, Ansu finally understood why Freya was the one accompanying him.

Vera was eager to try after hearing the plan, but Ansu couldn't let his sister follow him into danger. The Witch was far away at the magic treasure vault researching runes, and because she didn't have enough assistants these past two days, her progress was slow and she was very irritable...

So, only Freya was left.

The little Holy Maiden had volunteered. Hearing that she would accompany him to prison, she even... seemed quite happy.

【On the afternoon of the fourth day, I met with Valger and the others at the secret hideout again...】

【As it turned out, the people from the Church of Holy Light arrived.】

There were only two short entries for this final day.

This was because a large number of Church personnel suddenly burst into the safe point that everyone had thought was relatively hidden.

There were no lack of experts among the clergy who came to make the arrests, which indicated that someone had reported them; otherwise, they wouldn't have arrived so quickly and accurately.

So Ansu played along, outing himself as a black mage, and Freya tactfully revealed her demihuman characteristics as the group put up a struggle.

But they were outnumbered in the end and were suppressed on the spot, then escorted together to this secret prison in the south of the city specifically for holding black mages.

After reading all the intelligence and memories, Ansu silently closed the notebook.

It had been less than four hours since they were captured, but the true storm was clearly just beginning...

"Freya."

Ansu quietly took the notebook away from Freya's chest and looked up, meeting her gaze.

Because she had been silently enduring it, Freya bit her lip. Her pale gold eyes were now shimmering with moisture, and her fair cheeks had long since turned bright red...

"Lord Ansu..." Freya's voice was barely a whisper. "Is it... over?"

"Uh... it's over. You've worked hard, Freya. In a moment, we..." Ansu thought to himself that this conversation was becoming increasingly ambiguous, although their previous actions were indeed quite intimate...

Seeing Ansu nod, Freya gave a soft "mm" and then slowly... reluctantly released her arms from around him.

Although she finally didn't have to maintain that embarrassing and close posture, a sense of emptiness unexpectedly welled up in her heart when she actually let go.

After all... what reason could she find next time to hold Lord Ansu so naturally?

If only she could be as overbearing and willful as Celia...

But she was not Celia, after all.

...

"In a moment, we'll continue to keep a close eye on Valger." Ansu looked toward the corner of the cell at the man sitting curled up on the ground, his head hanging despondently. "Then we'll watch and wait for our opportunity..."

Freya continued to nod. "Alright, Lord Ansu."

"If someone comes to rescue him, we'll follow them out. But if nothing happens, we can't just let ourselves be taken to the execution ground for trial." Ansu looked at the clergy and soldiers patrolling outside, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.

"We'll just go on a killing spree! We'll lead everyone in a prison riot and throw this place into complete chaos. I want to see exactly what's hiding beneath these waters!"

It was rare to have a 100-hour simulation; if he was going to play, he might as well go big.