Chapter 746
Mirror Mirror, Tell Me (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
For a moment, Christina regretted agreeing to her mentor’s request to visit the Spirit Tower. With three thousand gold coins as startup capital, she was sure she’d be able to ascend to the Third Tier… at least the Second Tier was definitely achievable! She could even aim for the Third Tier—
“If you perform well enough at the Spirit Tower,” Alphonse von Piloty said with a gentle smile, “I’ll give you a bonus. Five hundred gold coins as pocket money every month. Consider this your special fund for socializing; use this money to meet people. If you run out, you can ask me for more. The materials and resources you need for your ascension will be reimbursed separately… What do you think?”
—This amount was nothing to Eivass, let alone Alistair, who constantly roamed Star Antinomy. She needed Christina to make a name for herself at the Spirit Tower… and then, using her as an intermediary, poach talented individuals directly from there. If possible, she’d poach some alchemists too. After all, when the Fallen Heavenly Envoy descended, any remaining people would most likely die randomly. The Heavenly Envoy descending upon the Material Realm was a form of natural disaster. It would be a shame if exceptionally talented individuals died because of it…
“—Mentor, I suddenly feel that I was born to be a great Necromancer.” Christina no longer bothered to cover herself with the bedsheet. She placed her right hand over her chest and replied solemnly, “Please, you must let me join the Spirit Tower. Even if it’s just for the continuation of my life.”
…It seemed the chivalric code of Avalon had a rather profound influence after all. Alistair touched her smooth chin, ponderous. At least when Eivass was in Avalon, he rarely felt that “money could be so useful.” Of course, it might also be because the Inspection Department’s anti-corruption investigations were quite strict… or perhaps the problems he encountered in his social circle were beyond what a simple sum of money could resolve. Even Minister Dross required the price of a title, a manor, and territory for Star Antinomy to buy him off. A mere few hundred gold coins…
The Corona Scepter, which Eivass bought because it was “pretty! cool! and had special effects!”, cost six thousand gold coins. He barely even used it… Not to mention, the Grimoire Eivass gave to Sherlock was worth fifty thousand Star Antinomy gold coins. Sherlock had a significant reaction when he received the book, but afterwards, it seemed like a normal reaction. Overall, he remained quite calm.
…And in Star Antinomy, “money” seemed much more useful. It could be used to bribe some people, which was actually more efficient. However, in that case… it wouldn’t be suitable to use the images of Beyad and Alistair’s main body. After all, she had to maintain the persona of a “crazy Alistair” and couldn’t do things that would diminish her prestige. But she could switch to Eivass’s image—with a slight change in hairstyle and attire, relying on that air of wickedness, no one would realize he was Eivass. Even if someone did, others wouldn’t believe it.
And when she arrived in Star Antinomy, she discovered that it was incredibly liberating. Unlike Avalon, it was small and full of trivial matters. Too many people knew Eivass, and bumping into someone could lead to them being related to her friends. A slight carelessness could easily lead to consequences that would implicate Eivass, making him afraid to unleash his full power. But Star Antinomy was different. Alistair could unleash her power without any scruples, and no one recognized her. The people here were particularly susceptible to bribery, and the monsters they defeated were quite valuable—Children of the Moon lived long lives, so they likely had a lot of money and plenty of good items; Demon Avatars were high-value blind boxes, and perhaps she could find a Phantom Demon that Eivass wanted to seal.
And…
As Alistair thought about it, the little crow on her shoulder flew to the Count, who had been frozen into an ice sculpture. With a *crack*, the ice sculpture shattered. It broke into pieces along with the corpse inside. —Since the Phantom Demon inside had already been extracted by Eivass, there was no danger in killing him now.
[Killed a Fifth Tier Extraordinary, obtained 1149 Free Experience]
“…Heh.” Alistair chuckled.
Just as Alistair had expected. Although the experience had decreased significantly… these Demon Avatars, from which the demons had been extracted, could still provide him with a considerable amount of free experience. After studying High-Tier Divine Art, his accumulated experience was depleted. His level as a Sin Scholar was still a distant dream… With this influx of experience, the situation was completely different.
“I truly love Star Antinomy.” Alistair exclaimed from the bottom of her heart, “I almost don’t want to leave.”
“…Whether you leave or not,” Honey Badger couldn’t help but interject, “we still need to complete the mission from the Prince, Your Highness, right? The longer we delay, the more problems arise… How about you rest first? I’ll continue the killing.”
Originally, Honey Badger had some reservations about Alistair’s wild plan—it sounded like she intended to turn Leipzig City into a wasteland. But after clearing out the first stronghold, she understood. It didn’t seem excessive to kill these Demon Scholars clean.
“Of course, we have to do it!” Alistair’s reaction was surprisingly fervent, “Don’t you dare steal my kill—if we act, we act together!”
“Alright, alright…” Honey Badger couldn’t be bothered to comment on Alistair’s slang anymore. The term “steal my kill” was actually slang among the assassins on the periphery of the Eagle Eye organization. It referred to someone else completing an assassination bounty that was being worked on by another person. The result was that one had taken on the pressure and risk, but received no reward. While she didn’t know how a young master like “Eivass” knew about it… since it was effortless, she disdained dealing with these minor figures. If possible, she hoped every strike she made would land on a Child of the Moon. For this purpose, she wouldn’t hesitate to kill her own kind… but she wasn’t a devil that killed for pleasure.
But… she glanced at Alistair. …This excited, thrilled, and blissful posture for killing seemed more like she was a little devil.
“What are you thinking?” Alistair gave her a sidelong glance, “Do you really think I’m going to go around and kill them one by one?”
“…Aren’t you?” Honey Badger retorted.
“Of course not, that would be too inefficient. It’s better to complete the mission first, and then go back to kill… I mean, to resolve the core of the problem, to prevent things from becoming difficult to handle.” Alistair, her cheeks slightly flushed from the rare sight of experience, said casually.
“Then what do you plan to do?” Honey Badger asked.
“Don’t we already have the information right here?” Alistair grinned, caressing the mirror beside her, and whispered, “Mirror Mirror, tell me… regarding the White Dove Opera House incident, who is the culprit behind the scenes?”
As a Mirror Demon capable of freely traversing within mirrors, it had accompanied its master to this small city and had resided here for decades. No information broker could be more aware of everything in Leipzig City than the Mirror Demon.
“How deep is the ‘behind the scenes’ you are referring to?” As expected, the Mirror Demon even retorted like this—clearly, it knew the identities of more than one behind-the-scenes mastermind, and knew more than its previous master.
“Tell me everything.” Alistair urged, “You saw it, your master is completely dead—I will find a priest to transfigure his soul later, they will come tonight.”
“The one who set up the Ritual is named Alphonse von Piloty. He is a direct descendant of Pomanach. He is simultaneously a Curse Mage and a Child of the Moon. And the one who guided him to set up this Ritual was Madam Anna Kingsford, whom I mentioned before.”
Having been respected, the Mirror, or rather, the Mirror Demon, replied smoothly and friendly.
(End of Chapter)
