The Temptation of the Demon

When Hai Na returned from the Tavern Basement, she felt like she had almost eaten her fill of dust.

When she went down, she was actually quite nervous and apprehensive. Hai Na always felt that there might be traps, mechanisms, or curses in this basement—or perhaps some Familiars were being kept, or she might even see Synthetic Beasts in jars.

But to her disappointment, she carefully explored for a long time but found nothing.

Not even the altar full of blood and severed limbs described in novels. Apart from a few places with signs of life, it was all dust. The most numerous items were all kinds of bottles and barrels she didn't recognize.

The double bed in the corner, perhaps because of poor ventilation and no sunlight, was damp and musty. She even felt a little sympathy for these Demon Scholars—the quality of life was too poor.

She easily found the "Alchemical Cipher" that Iver wanted.

It was a book that looked very much like a textbook, about the thickness of a required course that could be taught for a semester. It was about two fingers thick and half a palm long. Unlike a textbook, it had a special dark red leather cover that felt like cowhide.

It looked very expensive.

At least... worth ten White Coins, right?

Perhaps more, but that price was enough to make people think about stealing it.

Iver lacked life experience too much—going out with something like this would definitely attract attention. Even thieves who didn't understand the transcendent world and forbidden knowledge could easily judge its value from the material of this book.

And this evil female sorcerer must also cherish this book very much.

Because this book was placed on the bedside table, next to a glass filled with clear water—this was one of the few dust-free places in the basement.

Obviously, before they came, that dangerous Bald Female Sorcerer was reading this book.

Hai Na did see a Ritual Site in the open space of the basement. To make room, the residents here had obviously moved the barrels to the corner, even stacking two on top of each other, to clear this space of about five steps in diameter.

Within a ritual circle, ten names of unknown meaning were inscribed. Strange geometric patterns were also drawn in the middle, and she could barely understand that the mark meant "Moon".

And above the Ritual Site, there was no blood or severed limbs.

She only saw an empty swaddling cloth, lying quietly in the very center of the circle. Just in case, she didn't lift the cloth.

But to prevent the ritual from running automatically, she first cut all the ritual lines with the sword in her hand, completely destroying the Ritual Site, before daring to start investigating.

This was also the method taught in school—if you see a ritual set up by a believer of the Path of Transcendence, don't walk in casually, and don't take anything out of it. First, use a sharp object that has been blessed or cursed to gently cut all the lines. For example, a circle can be cut anywhere; if it is a triangle, it must be cut three times, and if it is a hexagram, it must be cut six times.

Hai Na remembered this knowledge very clearly.

Because when learning this knowledge, she had an exciting illusion that she was fighting demons. Including techniques to fight against various illegal transcendents, and even techniques to fight against demons, she had studied carefully.

But it wasn't until she was about to graduate that she learned from her colleagues... in reality, more than 90% of the Bureau of Supervision might not see a living demon in their lifetime. If they did see one, they probably wouldn't have the chance to brag about it to others.

Because demons cannot manifest alone. When the summoner of the demon dies, the demon will be repatriated.

This meant that when a demon was found alone, the evil sorcerer who summoned the demon must be nearby—and had probably already noticed her. But she had failed to find the other party.

And when encountering such a strong enemy, it is generally handed over to those White Gloves of the Inspectorate. It's not their turn to take action.

So Hai Na fell into a very aggrieved mood.

She clearly possessed a lot of professional knowledge, but in reality, she couldn't use it at all in her work.

In most cases, the work was still checking taxes, checking various identity documents, maintaining law and order, and checking hygiene, safety hazards, and contraband—meaningless, extremely busy, and completely unadventurous work.

Even in most cases, the sword doesn't even need to be drawn. Ordinary petty thieves and thugs can be frozen in place with just a shout. And those who can't be stopped by a shout at least require a human wave tactic—facing a strong enemy that can't be quickly defeated alone is a serious violation and will result in confinement.

And when the human wave arrives, the sword is even less necessary. In such situations, close combat with the criminals would only make it difficult for teammates to intervene. It's better to use a gun.

As a result, the Law Combat Tactics assessed during recruitment are never actually used.

Hai Na is quite dissatisfied with this.

If I had known that the Bureau of Supervision's work was so boring, I would have joined the army as a Sky Knight!

Her Griffin has been in the process for two months, and she hasn't even seen a single feather yet! Originally, Hai Na had dreamed that once her equipment and Griffin arrived, she would ride her Griffin, wearing armor and wielding a sword, to show off at school. That would definitely be cool, and her classmates and younger students would definitely gather around to watch her heroic figure, and the teachers would definitely use her as an example to teach those younger generations—

...But now it seems that she probably won't be able to touch her Griffin before graduation.

Hai Na coughed, using her left elbow to push open the door. Her right hand gently waved in the air in front of her, and her left hand carefully held the book, as if carrying a plate with a teacup on it.

She saw Iver sitting safely and obediently in his wheelchair, as if he was afraid of the smell of the corpse, far, far away from the horribly dead body.

"Does it smell very bloody?"

Hai Na asked casually, coming over to hand the book to Iver: "Hide it quickly... the Inspectorate from Lloyd District will be here soon, don't let him see it."

Passing by the corpse, the strong smell of blood in the air rushed up, making her cough even more.

"This is it, thank you, Senior!"

Iver happily took the book and responded sweetly.

The corners of Hai Na's mouth rose slightly. She liked this feeling of being needed.

She hadn't felt it during the battle, but now that she was idle, her gaze couldn't help but drift towards the corpse. And the smell was getting stronger and stronger, choking her more and more uncomfortably.

Finally, Hai Na couldn't bear it anymore. She grabbed a piece of white cloth from the nearby table and covered the upper half of the Bald Female Sorcerer's corpse.

"If you feel uncomfortable, why didn't you cover it?"

"Because I thought, I need to protect the scene..."

Iver said hesitantly, "Wouldn't covering it up destroy the evidence on the corpse?"

"What?"

Hai Na was stunned for a moment.

She glanced back at the corpse and instinctively felt that it seemed to make sense.

...But why didn't they teach this in school? Unable to think of the reason for a moment, she turned her head and stubbornly said, "Because there's no need to care about any clues. We all know that she was shot to death by you... what's there to investigate? I saw it clearly. I myself am a witness, no other evidence is needed.

"Of course, this is not your problem. Your act of shooting is a heroic act of righteousness, I will make this clear to the Inspectorate."

Speaking of this, she couldn't help but sigh—Iver is really an obedient and polite good boy.

—Completely different from herself.

Hai Na sighed with melancholy.

So, she decided to be honest.

She hesitated and said, "Mr. Iver."

"What?" Iver was taken aback for a moment.

"There's something I need to apologize to you for..."

"No, no, Senior, there's no need to be so polite... aren't we friends?"

"It's precisely because of that, that I need to say it."

Hai Na looked ashamed: "When I was looking for your book downstairs, I couldn't help but flip through a few pages."

—In fact, she was worried that there might be some curse or poison in the book.

She felt that she was physically strong, so she decided to try it herself.

But there was no need to say such things. Because it sounded too much like an excuse, it would be better to admit that she wanted to read it.

...Because she actually did want to read it a little.

If it were Hai Na before today, she would never have accepted such heretical temptations. But on the way here, after listening to Iver's words, she suddenly felt that she had been too rigid before.

Her desire to become a "superior" was a thought belonging to the Path of Transcendence; her feeling that Iver was handsome, elegant, gentle, and cultured was being influenced by the Path of Beauty or the Path of Love.

Similarly, after seeing this book, she had a curious thought... that was being infected by the Path of Equilibrium and the Path of Wisdom.

The Path of Equilibrium represents knowledge and science, an equal path to understanding the world; the essence of the Path of Wisdom is related to mystery, rationality, and the pursuit of truth. This is all normal, part of being a normal person.

There was nothing to be ashamed of.

What she really needed to apologize for was touching someone else's things and reading someone else's book without permission.

And what made her feel ashamed was... she had to admit that there was indeed something attractive about the things in this book.

She only flipped through a few pages and was immersed in that mysterious and amazing world, her eyes widened.

Hai Na stayed downstairs for about fifteen minutes, more than ten minutes of which were spent reading this book. But she could only skim through it, and she felt that she had to go out and take a look... otherwise, Iver would definitely be scared being alone in a room with a corpse.

And after all, this was the Lloyd District, where the security was not good.

What if a robber came at this time? Iver was too weak to protect himself properly. If he fired a shot, he might accidentally kill someone.

Killing a Demon Scholar was nothing, and might even be rewarded; but if he killed a civilian, he might go to jail.

And what if there were more people? He probably didn't have many bullets left, and he might not dare to shoot, or his weapon might be taken away...

Thinking like this, Hai Na ran upstairs worriedly to take a look. But she found that Iver was safe and sound.

Then, in retrospect, she felt a little itchy again.

The previous flip-through couldn't quench her thirst at all, but instead made her even more curious.

"I'm a little curious."

Taking a deep breath, Hai Na frankly admitted her desire: "I still want to see... that book."

"Afterward, can I go to your house to see it?"

"But if Senior, as an Inspector, runs to our house all the time... that won't look good, will it?"

Iver politely refused: "This will cause some gossip, whether it's for my father or for you, Senior. You also know that some Inspectors do take money from merchants and do things that are obviously biased—I mean, even if you, Senior, didn't do it, you can't refute it when people say that about you. Because what you actually do is even more inexplicable."

"...Indeed."

Hai Na nodded dejectedly, "You're right."

"But," Iver changed the subject, "Senior Apprentice saved me and helped me get revenge. She also helped me retrieve this book—logically and emotionally, I should thank Senior Apprentice for her help.

"So, if Senior Apprentice wants to read this book, you can regularly ask me out in your spare time. You should know, those kinds of more private spaces? Or if that doesn't work, I can bring it to school. There are always places like that at school."

Iver narrowed his eyes, revealing a kind and gentle smile, like a cunning fox, patiently guiding her: "Work can be tiring sometimes, right? If there's anything worth complaining about, or if something big has happened at the Bureau of Supervision recently, you can tell me about it and chat with me then."

She's actually interested in alchemy...

Iver's heart stirred. Knowing her personal preferences made things easier. Hai Na could easily become a nail and informant he planted in the Bureau of Supervision.

...It's so hard to learn to be good, but so easy to learn to be bad.

The originally upright and righteous Senior Apprentice Hai Na was so easily tempted the moment her firm belief wavered.

He wondered who the real demon was.

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Iver felt that if he were to be a demon, he would be much more professional than a Shadow Demon.

And Hai Na, upon hearing this, was extremely grateful.

She respected Iver's generosity and the thoughtfulness he showed for others, and couldn't help but use honorifics for this junior of hers: "Thank you, Mr. Iver! But... wouldn't that be too much trouble for you?"

Iver simply smiled and waved his hand: "It's okay, no trouble at all. It's called mutual benefit.

"—After all, I'm also very curious about the daily work at the Bureau of Supervision."