’That Evil Mage promised he would. Where are they?’
"What’s so unreasonable?"
Wei’en, guessing her thoughts, feigned confusion and asked.
"You!?" Pavla turned her head away, ignoring him.
’He imprisoned me, threatened me, and forced me to be his maid... and now he won’t even buy me a few books...’
’He’s just so unreasonable!’
Seeing her expression, Wei’en chuckled softly. He took several brand-new books, still smelling of fresh ink, from his Space Ring and placed them on the dining table. "I had them ready all along."
"Books?"
Joy lit up Pavla’s face. She grabbed a book and flipped open a page, but then, remembering the situation, she quickly put the novel away.
"Hmph. I will pray to the great Dawn to reduce some of your sins."
Wei’en replied, "...My sincerest thanks."
’Praying to the Lord of Dawn to reduce my sins? If He found out, He’d probably be the one to knock your head off.’
"You’re welcome."
With that, Pavla hugged the books and trotted toward the lounge area, not forgetting to call back over her shoulder, "Shawa went to advance her rank. Dinner’s in the kitchen."
Seeing her hurry away so eagerly, Wei’en shook his head and laughed.
’I never thought this Candidacy Saintess from the Dawn Church had a side like this. A little bookworm?’
’But Shawa is advancing her rank?’
Wei’en glanced at the workshop in the center of the work area. It had been exactly twenty days since her last advancement; her speed wasn’t slow.
’But... it looks like I need to accelerate the experiments for the Mechanical Undead project.’
With this in mind, Wei’en returned to his workshop, sat at his workbench, and contemplated his trip to the island.
’The research project can’t be rushed, and it wouldn’t help even if I tried.’
’But right now, there was a more urgent matter at hand: Ales Kilibali!’
In truth, even as he was leaving Caster City State, he knew Director Ales would never give up on the Power of Calamity within Tina.
But he never expected to get the chance to see him again so soon, much less here, on Aleksey Island.
This could only mean one thing—
"He’s been watching my every move!"
Wei’en narrowed his eyes. Being targeted by an Extraordinary who could patiently bide his time for nearly twenty years was something no one could afford to take lightly.
’And this time, Ales wasn’t alone!’
He was certain that given the former Director of the Secret Investigation Department’s cunning and the network he displayed during the Caster incident, Ales would have made exhaustive preparations for making his move on Aleksey Island.
The only thing Wei’en wasn’t sure of was who, exactly, would show up.
’The Desire Sect, the Abyssal Sect, the Eternal Life Association, the Glory Society, or someone else entirely?’
’Before Ales makes his move, I have to identify everyone who might show up and try to put a definitive end to the Caster incident.’
Fortunately, however, in the short half-day he had been on the island, he’d had some unexpected gains.
Not only had he figured out the whole story behind the Caster City State incident, but he had also brought a Favored One from the Desire Sect under his control.
A Favored One...
Through his Origin Power, Wei’en could clearly perceive Mitra’s current state and could even hear some of her thoughts.
’Wizard Wei’en is so wicked.’
’Why didn’t I notice how wicked he was before?’
’But... I love it...’
Sensing her thoughts, Wei’en couldn’t help but click his tongue. ’As expected of someone from the Desire Sect,’ he mused. ’She really is different from the others.’
But beyond that, being able to form a Master-Servant Contract with her was a massive gain and a pleasant surprise.
With Mitra as his mole, he could learn at least something about Ales’s situation.
As for the rest...
’It would all come down to our respective skills!’
At this thought, Wei’en took out a pen and paper and began writing.
While Ales as an individual couldn’t compare to the grand affairs of the Dusk Sect, the threat he posed to Wei’en was just as immense.
He even suspected that the forbidden item that could lock onto his position, 0-38, the Bell of Truth, belonged to Director Ales.
If that was the case, then he had to prepare his countermeasures in advance.
The threat from an out-of-control Bell of Truth was nothing like what happened with the Demon Clown—this would be truly fatal!
"Dusk Sect, Ales, Dawn Church..."
After briefly outlining his tasks on Aleksey Island and writing up a list of required materials, Wei’en activated his black communicator to contact Teresa and her team.
Setting up a Rune Array on a large island would require a massive amount of materials.
After thinking it over, the only one who currently had the resources to help him was the Silvira Clan on the Northern Continent.
’Specter, Spiritual Secret?’
He had other, more important arrangements for those two Wizard Schools.
"Director."
Before long, Teresa’s vibrant image appeared on the holographic screen.
"How are things with the research report?"
"Director, something unexpected happened."
’Unexpected?’
Wei’en asked in confusion, "What happened? Does Dean Josue not think the report is valuable enough?"
"No, that’s not it." A wide smile spread across Teresa’s face. "It was Master Boras and the others. They feel our institute’s research is too valuable to be fully disclosed to the Shadow School!"
"Oh? Tell me more."
This was unexpected. By his estimation, the emergence of Mechanical Undead would certainly have an impact, but it was far less significant than the flaw in the Magic Runes. It shouldn’t have been enough to warrant such a high degree of importance from the school.
"When I went to submit the report, Dean Josue was lecturing the Great Mages from the various research institutes. He was telling them they were incompetent, spending all day on research with nothing to show for it..."
"Those people were looking down on our institute, too, refusing to believe our research had any value. But you’ll never guess what happened! After Dean Josue finished reading the report, he told them they weren’t qualified to even look at it! Hahaha..."