A Collapsing Worldview, and Returning Home

After Ansu explained his thoughts to Cecilia, she let out a scoff.

"This Bishop Leonard, he's hidden himself so deeply. He must have already known about Terry's conspiracy and was secretly waiting for this chaotic battle at the Royal Academy. What he wants most is for both sides to suffer heavy losses."

Ansu thought of the campus tragedy that had already occurred in the simulation.

He still remembered how the Divine Descent on Terry's side had failed to activate for unknown reasons at that time, which had given the Echo of Truth a rare chance to catch its breath, and even allowed Samantha to narrowly escape by utilizing the powerful magic of the magic circle...

Perhaps this was also Leonard's doing; after all, if Terry had succeeded, he would have truly become a great hero and the long-awaited restorer of The Church.

The conversation between the two left Freya standing there in shock.

She covered her slightly parted lips, her eyes filled with disbelief. "Is... is this true? Is Bishop Leonard really so sinister... that he secretly pushed the entire conspiracy forward?"

Ansu looked at Freya's expression and nodded silently at her.

Freya lowered her head in despair. "How could it be, how could it be like this... What has happened to these respected archbishops? If this really happened, how many people would have died at school..."

Ansu sighed inwardly, suddenly feeling some sympathy for this simple and kind girl.

The Church had always been a holy land in Freya's heart, but today, these archbishops, who usually appeared more righteous than the next, had one after another exposed their darkest and most despicable sides to her...

This was nothing short of a collapse of her worldview...

"Student Ansu, I..." Freya's eyes turned red, and she had many things she wanted to say, but in front of an outsider, she dared not speak them aloud.

"This is the human world, you have to learn to get used to it." Ansu didn't know how to comfort her; Freya's first lesson had come three years earlier than in the original plot.

He could only say in a gentle tone: "You should go back first. With so many things happening today, The Church will likely be very busy, and it's exactly when they need manpower."

If she kept busy, she wouldn't have time to think about all those messy things.

"Mm." Freya nodded gently.

Ansu's voice seemed to have suddenly given her a backbone.

That's right... there was still Lord Ansu.

If it weren't for him, those two sinister archbishops would have surely succeeded. It was Lord Ansu who prevented the tragedy from happening.

It was fortunate that she had found Lord Ansu!

Even if The Church had become so filthy and unbearable, she believed that Lord Ansu would definitely be able to change all of this!

Her pale golden eyes regained their luster. As if she had figured things out, Freya waved goodbye to Ansu with a soft smile.

"Student Ansu, then I'll head back first! Goodbye!"

"Mm, goodbye."

After Freya left, Ansu looked at Cecilia, wondering if she should be leaving too.

It was already very late, and he still had to go home to report his safety to his younger sister.

However, he saw that Cecilia was currently eyeing him with an unkind gaze...

"You're quite good at comforting people, aren't you?"

"Uh..." Ansu looked helpless. "Does this count as comforting someone? Lady Scum Witch, I just told her to go back first..."

"But your voice was so gentle when you spoke to her!" Cecilia suddenly leaned in close, carefully observing Ansu's reaction. "You dare to speak to her like that in front of me; when I'm not around... who knows how much more unrestrained you two might be!"

Seeing that flawless, beautiful face leaning in close, Ansu didn't have a single thought of appreciation; he subconsciously assumed the Scum Witch was going to test her Hypnosis on him again.

But after being nervous for only a moment, Ansu noticed that her eyes were still a deep purple.

Hmm... it seemed that from some point on, Cecilia had indeed reduced the number of times she used Hypnosis on him.

She seemed to have become very trusting of him.

"Lady Scum Witch, my style of speaking is just like this... don't I speak gently to everyone? All the students know this!" Ansu made up an excuse and tried to change the subject.

"Besides... it's not easy to secure a connection with the Saintess Freya. Our organization has spent years trying to infiltrate the upper echelons of The Church..." Ansu shrugged, his tone quite smug. "And yet, the moment I made a move, I was more effective than all the elders of the Council of Elders combined."

"Why are you comparing yourself to that bunch of idiots in the Council of Elders?" Cecilia rolled her eyes, her tone as disdainful as ever.

"But speaking of The Order..." She frowned slightly. "Regarding the Terry incident, I need to go back and report to my teacher immediately, and dig out the traitor within The Order."

Cecilia looked at the sky outside; in two more hours, it would be dawn.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, I'm leaving."

She waved her hand casually.

"Mm, alright." Ansu waited with anticipation for her departure.

But halfway there, she suddenly turned back.

"You're quite slick at changing the subject!" Cecilia snorted coldly. "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. When I'm done with this, I'll come back and deal with you!"

Deal with him severely!

Ansu appropriately put on a "Please don't, Lady Witch!" expression.

Cecilia suppressed a laugh, glared at him crossly, and her figure finally disappeared into the night.

Time slipped by until the middle of the night.

There was no longer any public transport back to the Black Port District, so Ansu waited on the empty street for a long time before he finally hailed an expensive rental carriage.

Returning to the dilapidated house at 221A, Ansu took out his key.

But before he could even insert the key into the keyhole, the door suddenly swung open.

"Brother, you're finally back..."

Vera's eye sockets were slightly dark, and her small face was full of fatigue; she likely hadn't slept a wink while he was away.

Seeing that Ansu had returned safely, she let out a sigh of relief, though she couldn't help but feel curious.

"Were you on a mission with that sister Freya again today? Did you catch the bad guy?"

Ansu had been staying out all night for several nights in a row, which had long since made his younger sister very dissatisfied, leaving her sulking at him all day.

To keep Vera from worrying further, Ansu had revealed some information to her, claiming that it was a joint operation between two departments to assist Freya in capturing a villain within The Church.

The three of them had indeed been busy with this matter for the past few days, and aside from the issue with Cecilia's identity, it was a fairly reasonable explanation.

"Mm, the bad guy has already been caught." Ansu gently stroked Vera's hair. Vera didn't dodge his large hand as she usually did, but instead pulled him back into the living room.

"Brother, what was that bad guy like? Can bad guys really appear inside The Church? Tell me all about it!"

Vera's sleepiness seemed to have vanished, her large eyes wide and round, her small face filled with curiosity.

Ansu couldn't help but chuckle; his sister was incredibly curious about these adventurous exploits, not at all like other little girls her age.

He had also discovered that Vera would even secretly flip through his magic tome. Although she appeared worried that this 'evil book' would cause trouble on the surface, deep down, she was full of interest in the mysterious world and transcendent power.

Ansu watched Vera silently as she rested her chin in her hands to listen, thinking that perhaps her nature was destined to lead her toward the transcendent world.

Had his protection of her been a bit excessive?