Corrupted Monica

"Monica has passed out. We can barely manage to activate Flesh Magic together to maintain her current state, but we cannot deal with this corruption," a blonde Banshee said. "Besides, it might not be a good thing if she wakes up. Back in the Abyssal Trench, she was hit head-on by an entire monster carrying the corruption. I saw with my own eyes that the monster entered her body..."

As she spoke, a trace of sorrow appeared on her face.

"Perhaps by the time she wakes up, she will no longer be Monica."

"Do your people have any records regarding this type of corruption?"

The Banshees shook their heads in unison. They had already linked their minds to search through each other's memories, but they found absolutely no clues.

Perhaps the Banshee Kingdom from many years ago had relevant texts, but those things had long been lost; they only possessed information passed down through oral tradition.

This was truly troublesome. Theus had no solution for the moment. He pondered for a while and asked, "How long can you maintain her state?"

"Three days at most." Ash glanced at the Banshees. "I am the only one here who can move freely; all of them need to maintain their own Flesh Magic to resist the lack of pressure."

It was fortunate that Monica was the only casualty. Aside from maintaining their own Flesh Magic, the Banshees could barely squeeze out a bit of magic power to help sustain Monica, but this also trapped the Banshees here, rendering them unable to move.

"Then you..."

"Lady Ash is currently suffering from magic exhaustion." The blonde Banshee from earlier stepped forward. "From the depths of the Abyssal Trench, she alone helped Monica sustain her Flesh Magic and repelled many monsters before leading us here, giving us a stable environment to cast spells."

"For the next week, she won't be able to use even a shred of magic."

"Ash, you have done very well. Rest for the time being; I will find a way," Theus said solemnly.

The other Banshees needed to maintain their Flesh Magic, yet Ash had single-handedly repelled all the corrupted monsters and successfully led the Banshees in their escape from the Abyssal Trench—it was nothing short of a miracle.

One had to remember that when the Banshees first entered the Abyssal Trench, they had to charge in and self-destruct one by one just to carve out a path.

Come to think of it, it was strange; in the last few trips the Banshees made to the Abyssal Trench, they had not been intercepted by Fishmen. Perhaps something had happened on the Fishmen's side.

Theus suddenly felt the world go black, and a wave of dizziness washed over him. Seeing this, the blonde Banshee quickly grabbed him with her free four arms.

"Lord?!"

"My Lord!"

"Are you alright?"

"What happened?"

Theus shook his head to clear his vision. He looked at Ash and noticed she was also shaking her head; she seemed to have felt a moment of lightheadedness as well.

Noticing Theus's concerned gaze, Ash looked even more guilty. "I'm sorry, I... I am a bit weak. I absorbed your life force through the contract..."

Theus rubbed his temples. This feeling was terrible, as if he were running a fever; a headache was constant, and a sense of weakness followed him like a shadow.

"It's fine, it's not a big problem. You rest first; I'll go get some supplies down for you all..."

Theus returned to his study alone. After thinking for a moment, he rang a bell on the desk, and soon, footsteps approached from outside.

"Lord Theus?"

"Have Connor come over... just him alone. I have some things to discuss with him."

Connor arrived quickly. This meticulous old butler always gave Theus the illusion that he was on call at all times. Even though there were many things in the manor that required his arrangement or supervision, he handled them with ease and could appear by Theus's side the moment he was needed.

Professional, elegant, and loyal.

He truly fit Theus's imagination—or rather, stereotype—of what a butler should be.

Soon, Connor arrived in the study. Theus signaled for him to lock the door, and then he began to talk with his butler.

"Corruption from the seabed?" Connor recalled carefully, then shook his head. "I have never heard of such a thing. Have you run into some trouble?"

"Indeed." Theus nodded. He decided to tell Connor about the Banshees.

It was one thing when they were in the Abyssal Trench, but now that they had arrived here, there were many areas where he would need his butler's assistance to handle things.

Moreover, Connor had been his butler since he was a child and was one of the few people he could trust. With Alexei helping him manage the territory, it was appropriate to have Connor assist with the Banshee situation.

Theus gave Connor a rough account of the Banshees' origins, omitting some details. This caused the usually steady old butler to widen his eyes. He stumbled back a few steps and sat down on the armchair opposite Theus, taking several deep breaths before he could calm down.

"In other words, you have gained the allegiance of this alien race?"

"Yes, they are so expectant of it, even though I have already told them I am not a god." Theus spread his hands.

"Incredible, simply incredible..." Old Connor took off his monocle and wiped it with a handkerchief, his hands trembling. "Things like this, I have only heard of in various legends. An alien race... to think that an alien race actually exists..."

"Does the Church not have similar stories?" Theus asked with some curiosity. He did not know much about Connor, only that he had spent some time adventuring in his youth. He had originally wanted to understand the specific situation, but he had not expected the man across from him to be even more surprised than he was.

"No, at least I have never heard of it. I don't know much about the Church, and the Candlelight Society hasn't been very keen on missionary work these years. There are only fragmented rumors among sailors about the presence of alien races, but..."

He shook his head.

"Most of them are contradictory, error-filled stories."

Sailors? Theus did remember that Connor had a stint as a sailor in his youth, but...

"When you were at sea, did you never see any Fishmen?"

Connor took a long, deep look at Theus, his expression hesitant.

"It's not that I haven't heard of them at all..."

"It is said that there used to be quite a few non-human races in the sea, but they all gradually disappeared later on."

"All disappeared?"

Theus furrowed his brows. Something must have happened in the ocean, and it might be related to this pollution.

"I'm planning to go to the Candlelight Society to ask about it. What do you think?"

Connor seemed to have more to say after hearing this, but he held back.

"When I went last time, I already probed the Church's stance. Sister Chloe doesn't seem to have much prejudice regarding the topic of non-human races. I originally wanted to slowly win her over to see if she could become our ally, but it seems we don't have enough time now."

"I intend to privately invite Ms. Chloe to the manor... Our last meeting was quite pleasant, and I hope this time will go just as smoothly."

"What about Priest Kaeschi?"

"He will respect Sister Chloe's opinion." Connor did not know that Priest Kaeschi was not human, and Theus did not intend to reveal everything. The matter of the Symbiotic Pact was of great importance, and he had no intention of disclosing it.

"What if Ms. Chloe is unwilling to cooperate with your ideas?" Connor asked with a frown. "If you seek help, you will expose... many things."

To inquire about the pollution coming from the sea would at least let Chloe know that he had some connection to the ocean.

This was indeed a major problem.

"I want to know the general attitude of the Candlelight Society toward such matters, or rather... are they the type of people who meddle in others' business?" Theus stared at the old butler as he spoke.

Meddle in others' business? The Candlelight Society?

"No, they almost never interfere in worldly affairs, so you can rest assured about that. Their discretion is surprisingly tight, but the downside is also there; they rarely respond to requests for help from lords."

"You mean they will refuse to help me investigate the pollution?"

"They will solve the problem in their own way." Connor paused. "I once heard the Duke say that there is a type of person in the Candlelight Society known as 'Investigators'. They are the ones who specifically take the initiative to go out and find all sorts of strange occurrences to investigate the truth."

"However, the things they uncover are never made public. That is the style of the Candlelight Society. When lords encounter problems they cannot solve, they seek help from the Candlelight Society, wait for their Investigators to arrive, and then the problem is always solved, but..."

"But no one knows what happened in the process, right?"

"You are very sharp, Master Theus."