Don't disturb the sorcerer's scientific research

Chapter 218 Jia Xiu's mission progress is not ideal.

Investigate the secrets of the Unity Society manor.

When Jia Xiu saw that the sect leader had given him this task, he was still a little excited.

This proves that his guesses over the past two days were correct.

The Solidarity Society, which appears to be an idealistic force on the surface, is problematic.

However, we don't know what the problem is yet.

However, judging from the sect leader's usual approach, this organization must have serious problems.

A roadside cult in the town of Chachdis eventually becomes involved with an unknown dimension.

If this unorthodox organization of Gowald weren't connected to some demonic secrets, it would be a disservice to the mission assigned by the sect leader.

Jia Xiu is now full of enthusiasm.

I was originally just curious to see if there was anything bad going on hidden beneath the surface of this place, and I didn't plan to go too deep. But now that I've confirmed that there really is something going on, I have no choice but to investigate carefully.

Two people and one undead, each carrying a non-blood-sucking vampire in their pocket, walked toward the entrance of the manor.

It's hard to say whether the racial distribution in this manor or the races in Jia Xiu's group are rarer.

At the entrance of the manor, humans and demons are being registered to participate in this life experiment.

Fill out the information and receive your money and clothes on the spot.

Putting everything else aside, this club is quite generous; they say you'll get paid if you come, and they don't delay paying you at all.

So what are the sources of income for this organization? In Goward, if you want to make big money, you definitely can't do legitimate business.

They also provided them with uniforms.

This further fueled Jia Xiu's suspicions.

Wearing the same clothes is a great way to enhance a sense of internal identity.

A closed environment, communal living, and uniform clothing—if this is a cult, it's far more professional than the ones in Çachdis town.

Jia Xiu immediately joined the queue.

"You really want to go to that manor?"

Margaret asked in a low voice.

What if there's a problem inside?

"We went there precisely because there was a problem."

"what?"

"This is called the spirit of adventure, you know? You've been a mage for so many years, how can you be a good mage if you don't dare to explore the unknown? You should set a good example for your students."

"No, me? What kind of good role model am I?"

Margaret now has ample reason to suspect that the reason Jassihu always runs into accidents when he goes out is largely because he deliberately seeks them out.

That's incredibly adventurous.

The group moved forward slowly, the money offensive still very attractive. As they got a little closer, Jia Xiu noticed that the art student leader was also there at the registration and money distribution area, busy answering questions from everyone who wanted to join the manor.

He was quite hands-on.

Jia Xiu and his group arrived at the registration desk, intending to register their fake identities, when they were suddenly stopped.

"Please wait a moment."

The one who spoke was the person in charge.

Jia Xiu was startled.

Surely their "ill-intentioned" intentions haven't already been discovered.

This doesn't even qualify as a failure to get started.

He hasn't even finished his apprenticeship yet.

The Transfiguration technique was seen through? No, this was a top-tier Transfiguration technique kindly provided by Gillianis.

The art student in front of them didn't seem particularly skilled; he only seemed to know a little magic, after all, he came from a background of painting magical art.

As for his specific strength, well, he's below Juan.

Even now, Juan is too busy with business and has become rusty; his peak was during the entrance exam.

There's no reason someone of that skill level could see through Gillianis's magic.

Just as Jia Xiu was quickly trying to figure out which part of the process had gone wrong.

The person in charge continued, "Hello, my name is Paula Braun, and I'm in charge here. Judging from your appearance, you're probably not a local from Goward, are you?"

The tone didn't sound like an accusation, but rather like a casual question.

Jasmine remained calm and joked, "Matthew, you're from Larvin. There shouldn't be any locals here, right?"

"Haha, you're joking. Larvin is a good place. How long have you been here? It must be quite a contrast. Have you adapted yet?"

Paula spoke with a smile, as if chatting casually.

"It's alright, it's quite novel."

"Then what brings you all here?"

"I heard that Goward is special, so I came to check it out."

Jasmine knew what Paula was asking, but pretended not to understand and answered.

My mind immediately started selecting the most suitable reason from the reasons I had prepared beforehand.

“You’ve misunderstood. I meant, what are you doing here at this estate? As far as I know, Goward’s ‘interesting’ tourist attractions are all in the city, not in the suburbs around here.”

"Um...actually, I'm a reporter."

Jia Xiu came up with a reason.

“This is my colleague, the one in charge of writing the articles,” Jassiu introduced Margaret. “The one in charge of the illusion photography is our assistant, who calls himself a knight’s squire because he believes that we, as journalists who report the truth, are also knights who pursue justice.”

Paula glanced at Margaret, then looked at the tall Lich Knight, State Bubu, who was following behind.

This is truly a journalist team very characteristic of Larvin.

She studied there for a few years. As one of the characteristics of the City of All Laws, Larvin's newspapers are of a very high standard, and even slightly major news stories are accompanied by pictures, often animated ones.

In other words, it refers to live footage created using illusions.

His official title was reporter, but he actually did the work of a cameraman.

Moreover, the staff is very diverse in race, because the residents of Larvin are very diverse in race.

Having an undead creature in the reporter team is not an uncommon configuration.

These are usually places that are not easily accessible to reporters.

Journalists sometimes have to take risks to get the real exclusive news.

Undead creatures are far more resilient to risks than living people.

She looked at it from all angles, but couldn't find any flaws.

He then asked, "What kind of news does a group of journalists from Larvin want in a place like ours?"

Jia Xiu explained, "I heard that there is a club here called the Unity Society, which is working hard for the ideal of peaceful coexistence between humans and demons. I think this is worth reporting. If they are really fighting for an ideal here, then this report should be able to spread this ideal and attract more like-minded people."

Having said that, he waited to see Paula's reaction.

Jassiu claimed to be a reporter in order to ascertain Paula's attitude towards reporters, whether supportive or not, it would reveal something.

If they don't support it, it proves the problem is obvious, and they're afraid to let reporters see it, making the subsequent investigation much easier.

If they support it, they might be very confident that the secrets of this manor are well hidden. However, agreeing to the report would make it easier for Jia Xiu to move around here, and he could also use the guise of an interview to ask people questions.

Both positive and negative aspects have their advantages.

After hearing Jia Xiu's words, Paula was stunned at first, then became excited and grabbed Jia Xiu's hands with both of them.

"Welcome, welcome! We've been missing an opportunity like this to let the world know what we're pursuing. I know Larvin's newspaper is distributed throughout the continent, with readers all over the world. If you could help us publish it, oh my god, I simply don't know how to thank you enough."

Paula's enthusiasm surprised Jassie.

What's with this attitude of reacting to reporters like a parched land receiving rain?

They are so confident in what's going on here that it's impossible for reporters to find anything.

Or perhaps she didn't actually know either.

She was truly an idealist who wanted unity between humans and demons. The organization's secret affairs had nothing to do with her; that Balrog was the real big demon, and she was just pushed out as a cover.

It seems like this isn't impossible.

"Rest assured, I guarantee with my professional ethics that I will do my best to write this press release in a way that is both truthful and beautiful."

"That would be perfect, um, little Jack!"

Paula called out to a group of children playing in the distance. The children were of mixed races, including humans, dwarves, orcs, tieflings, and even imp larvae.

This was the first time Jia Xiu had ever seen a baby devil; he had only seen it in a picture book before.

He had assumed that the demons had only sent adult, combat-capable units to this plane.

Even juveniles exist.

A group of children were playing a game that Jia Xiu was completely unfamiliar with.

He didn't grow up here, so he doesn't know what the kids here play.

However, it's clear they had a lot of fun.

Racial segregation was not present among the children.

Hearing Paula's shout, a child who looked to be about seven or eight years old ran over.

It should be Little Jack.

Paula said, "I'll arrange someone for you to show you around. If there's anything you don't know, you can ask him. Don't let his young age fool you, he's very clever. Little Jack, let me introduce you to these two older brothers and sisters, and this Lich Knight. They're reporters from Larvin, and they can help us get on the newspaper."

She omitted the term "attendant" and simply called them "knights," which pleased Bubu.

He laughed happily.

However, with this lich's face, the withered head was just a skull covered with a layer of half-rotten skin, the eyeballs had long since decayed, leaving only two eerie points of light, and the happier he laughed, the more frightening he looked.

The key issue is that because the body is incomplete and the trachea is leaking air, the laughter sounds like scratching a blackboard, causing both visual and auditory torment.

In terms of sheer terror, undead creatures are far more terrifying than demons.

The demon race's peculiar shapes can at least be described as ferocious and domineering, with a touch of handsomeness amidst their evil.

Undead creatures are pure horror.

Little Jack was so frightened by the sight that he took a step back, but he seemed to be a strong child; even though he was trembling, he still mustered his courage.
"Hello, please feel free to ask me any questions."

"Then I'll trouble you." He casually took a handful of candy from Margaret's pocket and gave it to him.

Margaret always kept sweets in her pocket.

Sweets that are so sweet that Jia Xiu can't stand them at all.

Jiaxiu has a high degree of tolerance for children in this world.

Apart from the children of noble families, there are basically no pampered children here. Seven or eight years old is already the age to make a living. The better ones can become apprentices, and the worse ones go directly to factories.

If you still want to be a "demon" under these circumstances, life will really give you a hard punch.

The saying goes that children from poor families mature early.

Upon seeing the candy, Jack's eyes lit up, but he didn't immediately get upset. Instead, he turned to look at Paula.

Only after Paula nodded in agreement did he happily accept the candy.

Paula then said, "Just a heads-up, please don't leave Little Jack's sight while you're in the manor. There have been instances of hostile demons infiltrating and causing damage here before, so we always need to be a little cautious with unfamiliar outsiders. I hope you can understand."

"I understand. Of course I understand."

This request is perfectly reasonable.

Having a child with him wouldn't have much of an impact on Jia Xiu.

He hadn't originally planned to figure everything out on this first trip.

"Thank you so much."

Paula bowed very sincerely.

Now she's behaving like an uninformed, pushed-out idealist.

Idealism is always easy to be exploited.

"I have other things to do, so let Jack show you around from now on."

"Ok."

Subsequently, led by Little Jack, Jia Xiu and the others officially entered the manor.

As they walked, Jia Xiu casually asked, "Little Jack, how did you get here?"

“I was adopted by Paula.”

Little Jack replied.

"adoption?"

"Yes, not just me, we were all adopted by Paula."

The "we" in this context likely refers to the group of children who were playing together just now.

"So what do you usually do?"

Jia Xiu guessed that these children had been adopted to work. In this era, adopting orphans to work as child laborers was already considered a good deed.

However, Jack's answer was completely unexpected by Jasmine.

"We usually go to school."

"go to school?"

"Yes, sir, didn't you go to school when you were a child?"

"I... I have indeed attended quite a few schools. Where did you go to school?"

"Right over there."

Little Jack pointed to a tiled house on the hillside.

“That’s where we have classes. We have classes during the day, and adults have classes at night.”

"Still lecturing adults?"

"Yes, illiterate people can go there in the evenings to learn to read for free."

Jia Xiu now feels that Paula is becoming more and more like a good person.

It provides education for children and literacy training for adults.

That's such a huge leap forward.

Purely doing good deeds.

When it comes to doing good deeds, we judge by the actions, not the intentions. No matter what the purpose of doing good deeds is, as long as the deed is done, it is good.

“Look, that’s our workshop,” Little Jack said, pointing to a row of buildings on the other side. “They can make a lot of things over there: weaving cloth, making pottery, furniture, kitchenware, farm tools, and so on.”

Who are the workers in the workshop?

"These are the people who live here."

"There are demons too?"

"Of course there are also demons. All people and demons here, regardless of their origins, must work. Only through labor can they contribute value to the entire community. If you can't learn a craft, there are farmlands behind the workshop. Grain is grown on the east side, orchards are on the west side, and we can even brew wine. Further north are pastures where we raise a lot of cattle, chickens, ducks, sheep, and the like."

This is still a proper mixed-use estate combining handicrafts and agriculture.

Too normal.

Especially compared to the city of Goward, this is almost too normal.

Could it be that the manor is truly a wonderful manor, and the hidden secrets are something they themselves are unaware of?

Just like the cult in Çachdis, no one knows exactly what the "artifact" under the church is.

Jia Xiu began to doubt his initial guess.

“There, there is our kitchen and canteen.”

The so-called canteen was not a building, but a large shed that had been erected.

Judging from the number of seats, there should be several hundred people.

"Aunt Becky, what are we having for dinner today?"

Little Jack shouted the question.

In the distance, a woman dressed in a simple dress, but with outstanding temperament and beautiful face, who was nothing like an ordinary chef, raised her head.

"Bread, beans, and mushroom soup..."

Jasmine didn't look at Aunt Becky, but noticed the person next to her.

A demon in the deepest hell.

The Demon of the Deep Hell is the demon that Jia Xiu is most familiar with.

They've changed and they've fought.

The demon from the deep hell was wearing armor and had a hammer hanging at his waist, looking like a guard.

Whom is it protecting?
Are you guarding that chef?
(End of this chapter)