"What do you mean?" Ayanokouji asked, slightly confused.
"You underestimate the influence of emotions on people. It can make them very persistent." Roswaal lifted his head and looked at him.
"Sorry, your feelings for Echidna have nothing to do with me. What you're doing now is just hindering your plan." Ayanokouji said. "Let's do this as quickly as possible. Leaving the Sanctuary is good for both of us."
He had already begun to assess Roswaal's value in his mind.
Roswaal's identity as the ruler of the border was very important, and his methods were also very helpful to Emilia's faction. Coupled with his powerful magic, if there were benefits, Roswaal could potentially be a very valuable ally.
However, at the same time, holding the Gospel couldn't control his behavior. Even though their current goals aligned, if he truly supported Emilia's rise to the throne, they would inevitably find themselves on opposing sides.
His plan was to support Emilia's ascension and eliminate all threats to his life. By controlling the king, Ayanokouji could naturally live as he pleased in this country.
But Roswaal himself was a threat, and wanting to kill the dragon, which is the foundation of this country, would surely create great chaos.
All things considered, Roswaal needed to be dealt with.
However, as the kingdom's chief mage, facing him directly wasn't an option. At least not in a frontal battle; Ayanokouji couldn't handle that alone.
Would poisoning or another method be necessary?
The most important thing was to ensure that Roswaal's death could not be traced back to him. Otherwise, Ram's character would surely cause trouble, and Rem might get involved too.
The best way was to have someone else deal with Roswaal.
There's no need to worry about guarding the border; there are other strong individuals in the royal capital.
As the two spoke, Ayanokouji was already thinking of several ways to eliminate Roswaal while avoiding suspicion.
But, for now, the focus was on leaving the Sanctuary and getting more information from Roswaal.
If possible, Ayanokouji certainly wanted to avoid the trouble of the trials.
"At this point, there's nothing more I can do." Roswaal shook his head. "Now that we've entered the Sanctuary, Emilia must undergo the trial. Without passing the trial, she cannot leave. This is something she must endure. If she doesn't pass the trial, she won't be able to grow!"
"Then if Emilia fails the trial, are we going to be trapped here forever?" Ayanokouji had already decided to abandon Emilia if it came to that, but he still wanted more information.
Roswaal wouldn't want to waste time here with him.
"It won't last forever." Roswaal said with a smile.
"What are you going to do?" Ayanokouji knew that Roswaal must have some contingency plans to avoid being stuck here indefinitely.
"Use your corrective ability, or go and ask Echidna. She should be able to give you an answer." Roswaal said with a smile, "I'm tired now and need a good rest."
Seeing that Roswaal wasn't prepared to say anything else, Ayanokouji knew he couldn't get more information out of him at this moment, so he stopped the interrogation and turned to leave.
❀❀❀
"As expected of Ayanokouji, his grasp of information is truly unpredictable."
Roswaal watched the illusion fade and nodded in approval.
Before this illusion appeared, he had been a bit worried that the prophesied traveler from another world would be someone 'troublesome.' If that were the case, Roswaal would need to prepare some training to force him to wholeheartedly support Emilia's cause.
But Ayanokouji completely surpassed his imagination, never doing anything that didn't benefit him.
However, Roswaal also knew very well that Ayanokouji did not understand human emotions.
"I'm afraid Ayanokouji will never understand my feelings for my teacher. Although, as he believes, emotions can easily drive people to irrational actions, emotions can also provide strength and perseverance beyond reason."
Roswaal smiled meaningfully.
❀❀❀
In the royal capital, everyone was stunned by what they had just witnessed.
"What? Is he really that kind of person?"
"He wants to kill the dragon?!"
"Crazy, he's absolutely insane!"
Those who had previously mocked Roswaal's words and actions were now shocked and terrified. They hadn't expected this person to be someone who had lived for four hundred years.
"It all makes sense now."
At the Karlsten residence, Crusch watched all this with a serious expression. She had been curious before about why Roswaal recommended Emilia as a candidate but didn't contribute much to her cause.
On the other side of the capital, Emilia frowned. Of course, she knew that Roswaal wouldn't help her for no reason. It had to be for some purpose, but she hadn't expected his true goal.
Moreover, she was now very confused. She really wanted to know what she had experienced during the trial.
❰❱SKY SCREEN❰❱
The next evening quickly arrived. Ayanokouji, Emilia, and the others went to the trial site again, but unsurprisingly, Emilia failed once more.
Emilia walked out of the ruins with a blank expression. She looked like a zombie, and her eyes were completely empty.
"Are you alright?" Ayanokouji quickly walked to her side.
But Emilia nodded energetically: "I'm fine, I'm fine! Ayanokouji-sama, don't worry about me!"
Ayanokouji noticed that Emilia had added the honorific "sama" to his name. It seemed like there had been some sort of change in Emilia, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was.
However, there was no doubt that he had to participate in another trial alone and obtain relevant information from Echidna.
After returning to their residence, Ayanokouji and the others urged Emilia to rest in her room. After Garfiel also left, Otto gently tugged at Ayanokouji's sleeve.
"Ayanokouji-sama, my investigation has yielded results." Otto whispered in his ear, and Ayanokouji nodded and followed him out of the room.
"Ayanokouji-sama, I found that there's a special facility in the Sanctuary." Otto said slowly. "Thanks to my friends in the forest, I discovered this, but as to what's inside... I still don't know..."
"Yes, you've done well." Ayanokouji responded.
After hearing the praise, Otto smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head: "There's one more thing. I heard from my friends that there are more Ryuzu operating within the deep forest. They seem to act as eyes, monitoring everyone's movements in the Sanctuary."
"More Ryuzu?" Ayanokouji's eyebrows raised slightly. He knew that the so-called multiple Ryuzu were probably clones, and the second part of Otto's words confirmed his earlier suspicions. The feeling of being watched earlier probably came from these clones.
Why do they need to monitor? Who would they report their findings to? Ayanokouji was also curious.
However, the top priority was figuring out what the other facility was used for. It might hold the key to unraveling the mystery of the Sanctuary.
"Let's investigate."
He returned to his room and prepared to wake Beatrice, who had almost fallen asleep.
Although Beatrice was sitting on the bed at that moment, her large head was wobbling as if she could no longer support it. After all, it was late at night. She had forced herself to stay awake until Ayanokouji returned.
"Betty, are you sleepy?" Ayanokouji asked.
"I-I'm not sleepy!" Beatrice immediately opened her eyes wide. The drowsiness she had felt vanished instantly, and her eyes sparkled, "There's something I have to do."
A hint of hope appeared in the girl's eyes, which were like petals.
"Yes." Ayanokouji nodded. "We found another facility in the Sanctuary, and we're going to investigate it. Betty, do you want to come with us?"
Even though he asked for her opinion, he knew her character well and knew she would insist on coming along.
Beatrice was Ayanokouji's mobile insurance against any unforeseen situations.
Compared to Beatrice's combat power, she should be able to take down almost any possible enemy, and her teleportation ability could prevent unexpected situations.
"Yes!" Beatrice nodded enthusiastically, "I want to go!"
"Then let's head out."
Soon, Ayanokouji led Beatrice and followed Otto to the facility's location. They didn't use the dragon carriage to reduce noise and avoid being detected by others.
Along the way, Ayanokouji could sharply sense that someone was watching him from the shadows. If his guess was correct, the one watching him must be one of the so-called Ryuzu clones.
Since they were monitoring the Sanctuary's situation, who were they reporting to?
The information that he and his party were heading to the Sanctuary's facility would definitely be leaked. Perhaps he could use this opportunity to investigate who was monitoring the Sanctuary.
Soon, everyone arrived at another set of ruins. Compared to the mausoleum used for the previous trial, this ruin was smaller and more concealed. It was hidden deep within the forest; without the help of Otto's animal friends to guide them, it would have taken much longer to find.
"Otto, have your friends keep watch around us."
Upon hearing Ayanokouji's words, Otto immediately nodded and communicated with the animals outside the ruins.
This ability was very useful. Even Russell, who was always clever, sometimes made mistakes.
Ayanokouji and Beatrice walked deeper into the ruins. He noticed that Beatrice's expression had changed since entering, showing a hint of sadness and nostalgia.
"Betty, do you know this place?" Ayanokouji asked.
"Yes." Beatrice bit her lip, then nodded slightly, "Even though four hundred years have passed... I still remember this place. This should be the core of the Sanctuary."
"The core of the Sanctuary?" Ayanokouji pondered. If this was the core of the Sanctuary, then Ryuzu's original body should be here.
However, he didn't see anything special. All that was there was a large door carved with a butterfly pattern, but no matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't open it.
He continued observing and saw a tapered groove in the wall near the door. Its shape was essentially the same as the pendant from before.
Ayanokouji hesitantly inserted the pendant he had previously obtained from Emilia into it, and the door in front of him responded, with the large butterfly seemingly spreading its wings.
Soon, a burst of blue light appeared. In front of Ayanokouji and Beatrice, there was a large blue crystal, which was also the source of the light.
Ayanokouji also noticed that there was a naked girl encased within the crystal. Although her eyes were closed, he could tell at a glance that the girl inside shared the same appearance as Bilma; there was no doubt she was Ryuzu's original body.
"Ryuzu!"
As soon as Beatrice saw her, she immediately rushed forward. Her slender white fingers gently touched the cold surface of the blue crystal, feeling the chill, and she couldn't hold back her tears.