The scene shifts. At night, Ayanokouji, Emilia, and the others had returned to the mansion.
No one noticed that Meili and Ayanokouji had left earlier.
"By the way, Rem, do you know when Roswaal and Ram will return?" Emilia asked at the dining table.
"They might need some time to settle in before they can come back." Rem said uncertainly.
"If it's just Rem, it will be very tiring to manage the whole house!" Emilia said with a hint of concern.
"Don't worry, Emilia-sama, Rem can handle it on her own." Rem assured.
Although she and her sister were essentially maids responsible for managing the mansion, most of the housework was done by her. In the area of housework, Ram was slightly worse than her.
"But before Roswaal left, he said that Frederica would come to take over Onee-sama's duties."
"Frederica?" Ayanokouji heard the unfamiliar name and asked with curiosity.
"Mm, she is a maid who used to work at the mansion. She resigned for personal reasons shortly before Ayanokouji-sama arrived." Rem explained. "If Rem's estimate is correct, she should be here tonight."
As Rem finished speaking, there was a sudden quick knock at the mansion door, and soon after, a tall woman appeared before everyone.
She had long hair cascading down like a golden waterfall to her thighs. She was very tall, but this did not make her figure look bulky. On the contrary, her curves were accentuated by her beautiful face; there was no doubt that this woman had a stunning appearance that ordinary people could not match.
Ayanokouji shifted his gaze to this woman. Judging by the current situation, she should be Frederica, as mentioned by Rem.
"It has been a long time, Emilia-sama! And Rem!"
A warm smile appeared on Frederica's face, revealing a row of sharp teeth.
'Is she a Demi-Human?' Ayanokouji wondered to himself, but apart from that, he couldn't find more information about Frederica.
"Long time no see!" Emilia greeted back with a smile.
"Is this the esteemed guest Roswaal-sama mentioned?"
Frederica's gaze turned to Ayanokouji and the others, her eyes full of curiosity.
"That's right." Emilia nodded. "This is Felt, this is Rom, and this is Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. He is my supporter like Roswaal! Thanks to Ayanokouji, we have survived many crises!"
"So, you are Ayanokouji-sama! Roswaal-sama mentioned your name!" Frederica bowed deeply with respect.
"It's our first meeting. Please advise me." Ayanokouji nodded.
He also thought about the identity of the other party. The possibility of not sending her out was that she might be Roswaal's spy.
"It's really alive."
At this moment, a low but ambiguous voice slowly emerged, and a woman dressed in black appeared before everyone – Elsa.
"Who are you?!"
Upon hearing Elsa's voice for the first time, Frederica immediately turned to face her, like a wild beast confronting its natural enemy. As a Demi-Human, she could sharply sense that the newcomer was malevolent, and every cell in her body told her that Elsa exuded a dangerous aura.
"Elsa, what's wrong?" Emilia stood up and asked, her eyes still full of vigilance, her hands clenched tightly with nervousness.
Although Elsa was nominally from her camp and had also helped Ayanokouji in front of her yesterday, Emilia still found it hard to fully trust Elsa.
"Don't be too nervous."
Elsa smiled, her eyes sweeping over everyone's faces, clearly enjoying the feeling. She then walked towards Ayanokouji and respectfully said, "Master, there is something I feel I must report to you."
"Speak." Ayanokouji nodded. He already knew what Elsa was going to say, as it was all arranged by him.
"I found traces of the Witch Cult in the forest." Elsa said, her smile becoming more pronounced as she looked at him.
"Witch Cult?" Emilia's eyes widened.
As a candidate for the throne, she naturally knew of the Witch Cult's existence. They were enemies of the kingdom, causing many terrible incidents, but due to their elusive nature, people in the kingdom had no way to deal with them.
But Emilia was very confused, as she did not understand why the Witch Cult appeared in her territory, so she was doubtful of Elsa's words.
"I used Master's magical weapon to record evidence."
As Elsa spoke, she reached into her clothes, took out the cellphone, and handed it to Emilia.
"This?"
Emilia took the cellphone. On the screen was a photo of the Witch Cult, and the surrounding environment was the forest in Roswaal's territory.
"This kind of magical weapon can record what the person sees at that time." Elsa said with a smile.
Ayanokouji himself could not ascertain the existence of the Witch Cult, so he needed Elsa to say it. However, no one could fully trust it now, so he needed someone else to provide persuasion.
"I gave this magical weapon to Elsa." Ayanokouji said at this time, "Since the Demon Beast attack that happened yesterday, I asked Elsa to investigate the destruction of the barrier."
"I see..."
Emilia's expression gradually became serious, and Frederica slightly relaxed her vigilance upon seeing that Elsa was not hostile.
"What is the Witch Cult?" Felt asked with slight confusion.
"It's a very crazy organization." Rom shook his head and explained.
Even though he lived in a slum, Rom had heard about the Witch Cult.
"Why have they come here?" Emilia looked a bit panicked. "Roswaal happened to be away..."
"Don't panic, Emilia. You are our leader, so you must show your courage as a leader." Ayanokouji said calmly. "Even though Roswaal is not here now, you are the leader. We do not know when Roswaal might return, so we must face them without him."
Except for Beatrice, Roswaal was undoubtedly the strongest person in the mansion at present. In the last regression, he used powerful magic to directly kill Petelgeuse, but due to the gap in information, he was killed by Petelgeuse.
But the situation is a bit different now. Ayanokouji has mastered information about Petelgeuse, and most importantly, he has now gained Petelgeuse's trust.
Trust is the most dangerous hidden weapon. It will launch a silent attack when you are unprepared and eliminate you.
"Elsa, do you know the location and number of them?" Ayanokouji asked.
"Mm, there are about a hundred people, and they have prepared a very large amount of fire magic stones." Elsa said. "Given their number, they should be able to easily blow up the entire village!"
"Fire Magic Stones..." Emilia frowned slightly, realizing that the seriousness of the matter far exceeded her previous imagination.
Although she was a leader, she had a hesitant personality and looked to Ayanokouji for help.
"Elsa, are you sure you haven't been discovered?" Ayanokouji noticed Emilia's plea for help and continued to ask.
After receiving a firm answer from Elsa, he immediately said, "They are preparing with fire magic stones; it seems to be a very big plan. In this area, we are the only ones who could be their target. Our advantage now is that the other party does not know we have discovered their presence."
"What do you mean?" Felt asked curiously.
"This means their vigilance against us is not very high right now, so we must eliminate them before they take any action." Ayanokouji said slowly. "I think we should launch a surprise attack on them tomorrow."
"But the other side has a hundred people..." Emilia said anxiously.
"Anyway, we have Emilia and Puck, both of you with the strongest combat powers." Ayanokouji said calmly. "From Elsa's intelligence, they also have fire magic stones. Perhaps we can use fire magic stones..."
"Use the fire magic stones to create an explosion, right?" Felt realized.
"Yes, by using this method, we might be able to get rid of them." Ayanokouji nodded, turning to Emilia. "Emilia, what do you think?"
"Yes!" Emilia nodded firmly.
❀❀❀
"Finally, they have to take action against the Sin Archbishop of Sloth."
"Petelgeuse is now dead."
Shirogane Miyuki had returned home and was now focusing on the somewhat old TV on the other end of the house. He knew that Petelgeuse had been sentenced to death when he first met Ayanokouji.
❀❀❀
At Advanced Nurturing High School, Horikita Suzune looked at the image on the screen and pursed her lips.
In the last regression, Ayanokouji died at Petelgeuse's hands in the video. If it were her, she would probably try her best to stay away from Petelgeuse, as she definitely would not be a match for that monster.
However, the Ayanokouji in the video was completely different. Even though he lost his life at Petelgeuse's hands for the first time, he did not show any fear or anxiety during this life and instead extracted all the value from his opponent.
In a sense, Ayanokouji was a true monster...
However, Horikita also noticed that there seemed to be some changes in Ayanokouji. Although she couldn't pinpoint exactly where, she felt that Ayanokouji in the video was slightly different from before.
Where exactly was it?
❰❱SKY SCREEN❰❱
The next morning, Ayanokouji's plan was already set in motion.
He had asked Frederica and Meili to guard the mansion. Emilia and the others went to the Witch Cult's fortress first, while he and Elsa went ahead under the pretense of exploring the surrounding area – they headed to Petelgeuse's secret base.
The Witch Cult usually occupied one fortress, while Petelgeuse and his fingers were located elsewhere.
Arriving near Petelgeuse's secret fortress, the strong scent of magic on Ayanokouji drew Petelgeuse out.
"My friend! Sir Ayanokouji, the diligent one! The trial will start tomorrow. Are you here to check on the final preparations today? Don't worry! Everything is ready! The fire magic stones are also prepared!"
A crooked smile appeared on Petelgeuse's very ugly face.
"Are all the other witch cultists already there?" Ayanokouji asked.
"That's correct! Except for my beloved finger... My finger is always by my side, and the other followers and fire magic stones have all gathered according to Sir Ayanokouji's instructions! How should I start the trial tomorrow? How should I begin? I'm so excited!" Petelgeuse laughed wildly.
"What about your fingers?"
"They are waiting in my fortress now!" Petelgeuse said. "Now we await your orders, Sir Ayanokouji! We are waiting for the opportunity to respond to your love!"
"Yes."
Ayanokouji turned and nodded to Elsa, who immediately had an eager smile on her face and walked towards Petelgeuse's fortress.