Chapter 16: The Demon’s Temptation
When Senior Haina returned from the tavern’s basement, she felt as though she had eaten her fill of dust.
She had actually been quite nervous going down. Senior Haina always felt that the basement might contain traps, mechanisms, or curses—or perhaps even familiars, or she might encounter chimeric beasts in jars.
But to her disappointment, after cautiously exploring for a long time, she found nothing.
There wasn’t even an altar filled with the stench of blood and various dismembered limbs, as described in novels. Apart from a few areas showing signs of habitation, it was full of dust. The most common items were wine bottles and barrels of various kinds she didn’t recognize.
A double bed had been placed in the corner. Perhaps due to poor ventilation, lack of sunlight, dampness, and a musty odor. She even felt a bit of sympathy for these Demon Scholars—their quality of life was truly abysmal.
She easily found the “Alchemical Cipher” that Eivass wanted.
It was a book that looked very much like a textbook, about the thickness of a semester-long compulsory course. It was only about two fingers thick and a palm and a half long. What differentiated it from a textbook was its special dark red leather cover, which felt like cowhide.
It clearly looked expensive.
It would be worth at least… ten white coins?
Perhaps more, but that price was enough to make someone covet it.
Eivass lacked life experience too much—carrying something like this out would surely attract unwanted attention. Even a thief completely ignorant of the extraordinary world and forbidden knowledge could easily judge its value from the material.
And that evil sorceress must have cherished this book dearly.
Because it was placed on the desk by the bedside, next to a glass filled with clear water—one of the few areas in the basement without dust.
Clearly, just before they arrived, that dangerous bald sorceress had been reading this book.
Senior Haina did indeed see a ritual site in an empty space in the basement. To clear space, the residents had evidently moved those wine barrels to the corners, even stacking them two high, to create this clearing about five paces in diameter.
Inside a ritual circle, ten names of unknown meaning were inscribed. Strange geometric patterns were drawn in the center, only one of which she could barely recognize as “Moon.”
And above the ritual site, there were no fresh blood or severed limbs.
She only saw an empty swaddling cloth, lying quietly in the very center of the circle. Just in case, she didn’t lift the cloth.
But to prevent the ritual from activating automatically, she first used her sword to sever all the ritual lines, completely destroying the ritual site before daring to investigate.
This was also a method taught in school—if one encountered a ritual set up by a follower of a Transcendent Path, one should not step into it casually, nor take anything out. One should first use a blessed or cursed sharp object to lightly cut all the lines. For example, for a circle, one could cut anywhere; for a triangle, three cuts were needed; for a hexagram, six cuts.
Senior Haina remembered this knowledge very clearly.
When learning this knowledge, she felt an thrilling illusion of fighting demons. She had even meticulously studied techniques for dealing with illegal extraordinary individuals and demons themselves.
But by the time she was nearing graduation, she learned from her colleagues that… in reality, over ninety percent of supervisors might never encounter a living demon in their lives. If they did, they likely wouldn’t have the chance to brag about it alive.
Because demons couldn’t manifest alone. When a demon’s summoner died, the demon would be sent back.
This meant that when a demon was found alone, the evil sorcerer who summoned it must be nearby—and had likely already noticed her. But she herself hadn’t found the other party.
And when encountering such a formidable enemy, it was usually handed over to the “white gloves” of the Inspection Department. It wasn’t their place to intervene.
Thus, Senior Haina fell into a sense of frustration.
Despite possessing a vast amount of professional knowledge, it was practically useless in her work.
Most of her work involved tax audits, checking various identity documents, maintaining public order, inspecting hygiene conditions, safety hazards, and contraband—meaningless, extremely busy, and completely devoid of adventure.
In most cases, she didn’t even need to draw her sword. Ordinary foolish thieves and thugs would freeze in place just by her shouting. And for those who couldn’t be stopped by a shout, a mob tactic was usually employed—facing an enemy that couldn’t be quickly defeated alone was a serious violation and resulted in confinement.
And if a mob appeared, the sword became even less useful. In such situations, close combat with criminals instead made it difficult for teammates to intervene. It was more efficient to use firearms.
The result was that the Lawful Tactics assessed during her entry exam were practically unusable.
Senior Haina was quite dissatisfied with this.
—If she had known the Inspection Bureau’s work was so boring, she might as well have joined the army as an aerial cavalry!
Her Gryphon, which she had applied for two months ago, still hadn’t shown up yet, not even a single feather!
Originally, Senior Haina had dreamed of waiting until her equipment and Gryphon arrived, then riding her Gryphon, clad in armor and with her sword, to show off at school. It would have been incredibly cool; her classmates and juniors would surely flock to witness her heroic bearing, and her teachers would undoubtedly use her as an example to guide her juniors—
…But now it seemed she might not even get to touch her Gryphon before graduation.
Senior Haina coughed and nudged the door open with her left elbow. Her right hand lightly flapped the air in front of her, while her left hand carefully held the book, as if carrying a tray with a teacup.
She saw Eivass sitting calmly and obediently in his wheelchair, keeping a considerable distance from the ghastly corpse, as if afraid of its smell.
“Does it smell very fishy?”
Senior Haina asked casually, walking over to hand the book to Eivass. “Hide it quickly… the Lloyd District inspectors will be here soon, don’t let him see it.”
Passing the corpse, the strong smell of blood in the air caused her to cough even more violently.
“This is the one, thank you, Senior!”
Eivass happily took the book and replied sweetly.
Senior Haina’s lips curled slightly. She liked this feeling of being needed.
During the fight, she hadn’t felt it, but now that things had calmed down, her gaze kept drifting to the corpse. And the smell grew stronger, making her more uncomfortable.
Finally, Senior Haina couldn’t help it. She pulled a white cloth from a nearby table and covered the upper half of the sorceress’s corpse.
“If you’re feeling uncomfortable, why don’t you cover it?”
“Because I thought… we needed to preserve the scene…”
Eivass said hesitantly, “Wouldn’t covering it with cloth destroy the evidence on the body?”
“What?”
Senior Haina froze.
She glanced back at the corpse, instinctively feeling that it made sense.
…But why hadn’t school taught her this?
Unable to think of a reason for a moment, she turned her head and stubbornly retorted, “Because we don’t need to bother with any clues. We all know she was shot dead by you… Is there anything else to investigate? I saw it clearly. I am the eyewitness, no other evidence is needed.
“Of course, this isn’t your problem. Your act of firing your weapon was a brave deed of righteous intervention, and I will explain this clearly to the Inspection Bureau.”
Speaking of which, she couldn’t help but sigh—Eivass was truly a well-behaved, polite, good child.
—Completely unlike herself.
Senior Haina sighed mournfully.
So, she decided to be honest.
She hesitated and opened her mouth. “Mr. Eivass.”
“What?” Eivass blinked.
“There’s something I need to apologize for…”
“No, no, Senior, you don’t need to be so polite… Aren’t we friends?”
“Precisely because of that, I must say it.”
Senior Haina’s face showed shame. “When I was looking for your book downstairs, I couldn’t help but flip through a few pages.”
—In fact, she was worried if the book contained any curses or potent poisons.
She felt her robust physique and decided to try it herself.
But there was no need to say such a thing. It sounded too much like an excuse, better to admit directly that she wanted to read it.
…Because she did actually want to read it a bit.
If it were Senior Haina before today, she would never have accepted such a temptation of heretical ways. But on the way here, after hearing Eivass’s words, she suddenly felt that she had been too rigid before.
Her desire to become a “superior” was a thought associated with the Transcendent Path; her perception of Eivass as handsome, elegant, gentle, and cultured was an influence from the Path of “Beauty” or “Love.”
Similarly, her curiosity upon seeing this book… was an infection from the Paths of [Balance] and [Wisdom].
The Path of Balance represented knowledge and science, a path of equal cognition of the world; the essence of the Path of Wisdom was related to mystery, rationality, and the pursuit of truth. These were all normal, integral parts of a normal person.
There was nothing to be ashamed of.
What truly warranted an apology was taking someone else’s possessions and reading their book without permission.
And what made her feel ashamed was… she had to admit, the contents of this book did have some allure.
She had only flipped through a few pages, but she was immersed in that mysterious and astonishing world; her eyes were opened.
Senior Haina had been in the basement for about fifteen minutes, and more than ten of those were spent reading the book. But she could only quickly flip through it once, and then she felt she had to go out and check… otherwise, Eivass would surely be terrified alone with the corpse.
And this was the Lloyd District, after all, a place with poor security.
What if hoodlums came outside during this time?
Eivass was too frail to protect himself properly. A single shot might accidentally kill someone.
Killing a Demon Scholar was not an issue, and might even be rewarded; but killing a civilian could lead to prison.
And what if there were more people? His bullets were probably running low, and he might be afraid to shoot, or have his weapon taken away…
Thinking this, Senior Haina hurried upstairs worriedly. But she found Eivass safe and sound.
Then, turning back, she felt a renewed sense of longing.
The single flip-through before was not enough to quench her thirst; instead, it made her more curious.
“I’m a little curious.”
Taking a deep breath, Senior Haina frankly admitted her desire: “I’d like to see… that book.
“Afterwards, can I visit your home to see it?”
“But Senior, as an inspector, coming to our house for no reason… wouldn’t that reflect poorly?”
Eivass politely refused. “This could lead to gossip, both for Father and for you, Senior. You know, some inspectors take money from merchants and act with obvious favoritism—I mean, even if you haven’t done it, you wouldn’t be able to refute it if someone said so. Because what you’re truly doing is even harder to explain.”
“…Indeed.”
Senior Haina nodded dejectedly. “You’re right.”
“But,” Eivass changed the subject, “Senior saved me, helped me get revenge, and helped me retrieve this book—morally and logically, I must thank Senior for her help.
“So, if Senior wants to read this book, you can invite me out periodically during your free time. You should know about those more private spaces, right? Or if that’s not possible, I can bring it to the school. There are always places like that in school.”
Eivass narrowed his eyes, a kind and gentle smile appearing, like a cunning fox, subtly enticing: “Your daily work must also be tiring, right? If there’s anything worth complaining about, or if something big has happened at the Inspection Bureau recently, you can tell me about it then, we can chat.”
She’s actually interested in Alchemy…
Eivass’s heart stirred. Knowing her personal preferences made things much easier. Senior Haina could easily become his mole and informant within the Inspection Bureau.
…It’s hard to learn, but easy to slip up.
The originally upright and righteous Senior Haina, the moment her firm beliefs wavered, was so easily tempted by him.
He wondered who the demon truly was.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but Eivass felt that if he were to be a demon, he might be more professional than a Shadow Demon.
Hearing this, Senior Haina was extremely grateful.
She respected Eivass’s generosity and his consideration for others, and instinctively used polite language with her junior. “Thank you, Mr. Eivass! It’s just… will this be too much trouble for you?”
Eivass merely smiled and waved his hand. “It’s fine, no trouble. It’s called mutual benefit.
“—After all, I’m also very curious about the daily work of the Inspection Bureau.”
