Blackmoon City, Red-light District
Earthly Pleasure Manor
While Lord Manfred perused a list of documents at his study table, a strong gust of wind suddenly blew open the room’s window before a slim figure swiftly entered.
“That’s a rude way to enter another person’s room, don’t you think, Lady Elaine? Have you finally prepared to indulge in the world of carnal pleasure?” Lord Manfred spoke casually.
“Others might come for sexual service, but not me. You should already know that I only come for one thing—and one thing only.”
“Yes, you came for my d—Ahem!” Lord Manfred gave a dry cough as Senior Witch Elaine was about to explode before he quickly corrected, “Information—You came for my information.”
The Earthly Pleasure Manor was a place that provided sexual service for its clients on the surface, but it was also a secret intelligence organization that covertly gathered intel under the surface.
“Exactly. I want everything you have on demon activities in the Blackmoon Region,” Senior Witch Elaine stated.
“Demon activities? This isn’t the northern fronts, Lady Elaine. There isn’t any demon activity in this area. The closest thing to demons would be the sighting of the Wyvern-class Abomination yesterday afternoon,” Lord Manfred frowned and asked, “Why would you…”
“The City Lord’s daughter was murdered, and her mana source was taken. Lord Manfred should understand the gravity of taking another witch’s mana source, no? It can only be the work of a demon,” Senior Witch Elaine stated firmly.
Although she knew that might not be the case, she had to make others think so and let it reaches City Lord Istana’s ears.
“Wyvern-class Abomination… City Lord’s daughter murdered… Mana source was taken…?” Lord Manfred muttered softly in deep thoughts before he stared deeply at Elaine. “Are you certain it was the work of a demon?”
“It can only be the work of a demon,” Elaine lied.
“I see. It’ll take time to compile the documents. Come back tomorrow to collect the information,” Lord Manfred glanced down and resumed reading his documents as if the talk was over.
Years of experience in reading people’s expressions told him that the Senior Witch was not being truthful. She was not good at hiding her true thoughts.
Nevertheless, she must have some compelling reason to come and lie to him.
“Oh, and of course, don’t forget to bring the gold,” Lord Manfred added.
Whatever Senior Witch Elaine’s reasons for coming, it did not matter as long as there was gold to be earned.
“Of course,” Elaine nodded.
Just as she was prepared to leave through the window, she suddenly paused her steps and turned around to face Lord Manfred again.
“Hm? Is there something else?” Lord Manfred raised an eyebrow.
“Actually, there is,” Elaine admitted and said, “I have another request. I would like you to provide me with all the information you have on a person called Vaan. More precisely, I want information about this person’s life before he entered the academy.”
“Vaan, you say…?” Lord Manfred showed a peculiar look before saying, “It’s professional of me, but I must ask. Why do you want to know about this person’s life?”
Reasons told him that his student was at the center of the recent problems in the academy.
Without understanding the complete picture, he did not intend to carelessly sell his student’s information lest he harms him.
“You see, yesterday, the academy lost two geniuses,” Elaine mentioned with a sad look as she sighed, “Wise Scholar Eniwse’s loss was already a big blow to the academy.”
“However, it wasn’t until we discover her servant’s study notes that we realized that the death of her servant, Vaan, was an even bigger blow for the academy. This person could have been a pioneer in the research of magic.”
“Having read Servant Vaan’s study notes and benefitted a great deal from it, he could be said to be half my teacher. Thus, I wanted to learn more about him,” Elaine said with a regretful smile.
She had frequently heard about Servant Vaan back in the academy, but alas, she never interacted with the person.
If only she knew the person had such a great mind earlier…
“I see. In that case, please come two days later. The information on the person will be ready for you then,” Lord Manfred calmly stated.
“Understood. I’ll come back in two days to pick up the documents,” Elaine nodded and said, “Thank you, Lord Manfred.”
“No need. It’s all business.” Lord Manfred waved his hand for the person to leave.
Shortly after Elaine left, peace returned to the room as Lord Manfred placed down the document in his hands and leaned back on his chair with a thoughtful look.
‘So my student was deemed dead, huh? He certainly didn’t look like it last night,’ Lord Manfred mused.
Abomination… City Lord’s daughter’s murder… Demons… Vaan’s death… Returning to life…
Lord Manfred reviewed the information he learned as he tried to piece together the puzzle before his eyes suddenly snapped widely open at a discovery.
‘A Devil’s Contractor?’ Lord Manfred thought.
There weren’t many instances where a person could be brought back to life, but it could only be done by someone with great power if it happened.
“When the Gehenna Realm descended three hundred years ago, the seven Transcendent Witches rose to power and found their kingdoms to defend the continent and had been at war with demons ever since…”
However, in the face of the Gehenna Realm’s strongest demons, the seven Great Devils, even the seven Transcendent Witches’ power pale in comparison.
If not for the Great Devils’ lack of interest in dominating the world, the continent would have been overrun by demons long ago.
“It’s rare for a Great Devil to show interest in a human, but if a contract is made, the contractor’s life would be far from ordinary…”
Six Devil Contractors have emerged with powers rivaling Transcendent Witches since Gehenna’s appearance.
It was thanks to them that the seven witch kingdoms only managed to occupy one-third of the continent.
‘If a seventh contractor appears, things might become more interesting. Are you the seventh contractor, Vaan? Haiz, you could have written a bit more words before you left, you know?’ Lord Manfred grudgingly thought.