He had definitely been tricked. Looking at Beatrice, who was strenuously carrying the bag and walking behind him, Roland felt quite irritated.

  If it were any other man, he would have been grinning from ear to ear at this point.

  But Roland was in no such mood. Without mentioning his personal preferences, whether this widow was pretty or not……

  He already had Andonara and Vivian back home.

  It was already a great fortune that the two women could get along harmoniously. If he brought another woman back, even if Andonara was gentle, it would be strange if she didn’t flip out.

  This was why Roland didn’t intend to take in Beatrice, but it was possible to take her to a safe place.

  After walking for a while, Roland left the Association of Mages and took Beatrice around the streets for a while, and after making sure that no one was following her with his mental power, Roland led her to the outer woods of the princess’s manor.

  Then they sank into the ground with his magic, found the passage, and walked straight back to the underground library.

  Suddenly being underground, Beatrice was a little frightened, and her hands had gotten numb and sore from carrying the bag of coins, but she didn’t complain at all.

  When Roland reached the library with her, Andonara heard footsteps and knew that Roland had returned.

  When she saw Beatrice behind Roland, she didn’t reveal any strange expressions, but instead, she smiled and stepped forward to help Beatrice carry the bag of coins.

  Beatrice was a little worried as she looked at Andonara and then at the bag of coins in her hand.

  She was afraid that this woman might take this money that belonged to her and Roland.

  “How is the situation outside?” Andonara asked.

  The First Princess, Stephanie, who was sitting in the corner recuperating, also cast her gaze over.

  At this moment, Beatrice finally saw Stephanie and covered her mouth in surprise. “First Princess, what are you doing here?”


  “Are you Beatrice?” Stephanie was a little surprised. “Why are you following Roland?”


  Beatrice attended most of the parties hosted by Stephanie.

  As time went on, they got to know each other, but not well; there was a bit of a status gap after all.

  Beatrice’s eyes turned red when she was asked this.

  Stephanie looked at Roland with suspicious eyes, because this situation, no matter how it looked, seemed to be caused by something Roland had done.

  Only Andonara remained unmoved.

  After spending so much time with Roland, she already knew what kind of man he was.

  Even a woman as beautiful, as good-figured, and as gentle as she had to nag for nearly over a year to obtain Roland’s affection.

  How could Roland be interested in a woman who came out of nowhere?

  This was where Andonara’s confidence came from.

  When Beatrice went to Stephanie, she first bent down slightly, then sat down, wiped her tears, and told her the whole story.

  After hearing that, Stephanie sighed. “Indeed, if you were to return to Delonwa County like this, you would most likely be made into a terracotta.” She then looked at Roland. “You already have Andonara, so why don’t you have Beatrice follow me?”


  She thought this would be for the sake of Beatrice.

  However, Beatrice shook her head vigorously. “Thank you, Your Highness, but I would prefer to follow Roland.”


  Although Beatrice was not too smart, she knew how to live.

  She knew how to look at men.

  It was true that if she followed the First Princess, she would be safe for a while, but what about the future!? She was still bound to be sent away after a while, and she wouldn’t be able to pick the man she would meet then.

  It would be different following Roland. In just these few hours together, she could tell that Roland was a good man.

  Oftentimes, whether a man was good or bad could be seen in his expressions and attention to detail.

  Roland had no evil lust in his eyes and also respected her.

  Although he wasn’t very handsome, his mysterious and relaxed temperament, which only Mages had, added a lot more to his attractiveness.

  Men like that were hard to come by.

  Or rather, it was hard to come by with her conditions.

  She couldn’t just let go when fate hit her. Otherwise, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

  That was how Beatrice felt.

  Seeing that even Beatrice had rejected her and was as devoted to Roland as Andonara was, Stephanie was a little dissatisfied.

  But she quickly tossed that insignificant thought out of her mind and asked, “Continuing with what we were talking about, how is the situation outside?”


  Roland shook his head. “Unknown. The Association of Mages doesn’t want to investigate, or they don’t have the motivation to do so. There is no movement from the palace, and only my friend Schuck is gathering a team like a headless fly. There seems to be a special understanding between several forces.” “My father told me before that this is a personal test for me, and out of respect toward my father, they are all holding still.”


  Roland sighed. “So it’s not good to have too many children, because family ties are limited, and there is less to share equally among everyone. The survival of his daughter is uncertain, but he only sees it as a test for you.”


  “To wear a crown, one must first bear its weight.” Stephanie bent her intact left leg, then bent over and rested her cheek on it, with her hands on her knees, which made her look delicate. “I’m almost guaranteed the throne, but to become a queen, I have to have some sort of plausible deed under my name, at any rate.”


  Does everyone in the royal family take this situation for granted?

  Roland suddenly felt that the First Princess seemed a bit pitiful.

  He then almost laughed aloud—what was a commoner like himself doing pitying a royal?

  It was like a beggar worrying that the richest man would quickly become poor if he spent his money recklessly.

  Ridiculous!

  At this time, a system message notification suddenly came, and when he opened it, he found that it was someone in the guild chat room pinging him.

  Schuck: “Roland, come meet me at the Moonlight Stone Tavern, there’s something I want to talk to you about, alone.”


  Roland: “I’ll be right there.”


  After sending the message, Roland told Andonara and the other three that he had to take care of something.

  Then, under the reluctant gazes of the three, Roland teleported out of the place.

  Moonlight Stone Tavern.

  Still the same seats, the same people; even the scene where Schuck was pursued by the waitresses was almost exactly the same.

  Roland sat in front of Schuck and asked, “Calling me out in such a hurry, did you find anything?”


  “Indeed, I have.” Shuck laughed and said, “I heard that Menon died shortly after my colleagues left him, and then you took the fall.”


  “You seem to be pretty well-informed.”


  Schuck shook his head. “That’s because I have people watching Menon all the time.”


  “Why?” Roland was surprised.

  He saw that Menon was mentioned in the book of magic insights, and Menon’s philosophies were also highlighted, so he thought to ask Menon about what he had found.

  As a result, Menon died within three minutes of meeting with him.

  He had a clue related to Menon, so he went to check on him. Why did Schuck want to investigate and spy on him? Seemingly seeing the question on Roland’s face, Schuck smiled and said, “We are Saint Samurai of the Church of Light, and have a keener sense of dark magic. Menon came in contact with dark magic before, so he was always on our special list of people.”


  That explains a lot!

  “After Menon’s death, we noticed a hidden burst of dark magic in the capital, which should have been a curse remotely activated by someone, which killed Menon,” Schuck explained, “but the other party’s tactics were very good, so we didn’t even find the actual source of the dark magic.”


  “In other words, you still don’t know the enemy’s true identity!”


  Schuck shook his head. “Indeed, we couldn’t find it; the enemy is very clever. But we’re not completely out of luck. According to our intelligence officers, the cold curse is not something that ordinary people can use. It seems that only Lichs, or non-human creatures of darkness, can cast it.”


  “You mean, there’s a dark magic monster hidden in the capital?”


  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Schuck sipped on fruit wine. “Whether he’s human or not, if he can use the cold curse, he’s a monster. I’m not telling you to be careful-players won’t die

  —but the people around you have to be careful; after all, once they’re dead, it’s almost impossible for them to come back to life unconditionally.”


  Understood.

  Roland and Schuck then talked for quite a long time, and finally, it was Margret who suddenly appeared and pulled the latter away.

  The little dragoness’s strength was great. She was less than one and a half meters tall and her body looked weak, but pulling Schuck was as easy as pulling a rag doll. Roland went home on his own, but just as he walked out of the Moonlight Stone Tavern, a small white bird suddenly hovered above him.

  “Follow me.”


  A familiar female voice sounded in his consciousness, and then the white bird flew out of the city.

  Stunned, Roland immediately followed it with Human Cannonball.

  In a short time, Roland followed the bird to a large forest and flew to the middle of it, where suddenly a pulling force brought him down to the ground.

  Thirty seconds later, Roland planted his feet on the ground, and he saw that his surroundings had become very strange, with clear green plants everywhere, which all seemed to have become quite vigorous.

  Before Roland could begin to study why these plants had such strong vitality, a green light came down from the sky.

  With her wings spread and wearing a white robe, Nia slowly descended from midair.

  After landing on the ground, she waved her hand at Roland. “Long time no see, Roland.”


  “It is indeed you, Ms. Nia.”


  Roland smiled. After not having seen her for a while, Nia’s bosom seemed to have grown a little more.

  Did angels always have developmental stages?

  Nia bounced up to Roland, her wings temporarily retracted. “It was right to give you the task of defeating Parn; I didn’t expect you to encounter him so quickly.” Roland was slightly stunned. “Isn’t the duration of this quest ten years?” “But if you have a clue in front of you, do you complete it or not?” Nia narrowed her eyes and smiled, seemingly a little mischievous. “What’s the clue?”


  “Because the Holy Realm is nearby, I can’t expand my mental power to scan the entire city, and if I did, the Church of Light might fight with the Church of Life.” Nia snorted and crossed her arms. “But I’m awesome, and I already know roughly where that dark creature is—in the north of the city.”


  North of the city, isn’t that the territory of the Holy Realm?

  Roland seemed to have a headache. If it wasn’t for the fact that Nia’s eyes were really pure and beautiful, Roland would have suspected Nia of trying to trick him.

  Going to the Holy Realm to look for creatures of darkness was just like combing hair on a bald man’s head.

  One would be driven crazy.