Just became an evil god and was summoned by the saint.

Chapter 224 Suspicion Arises

"Is 20 gold coins too much?"

"What? 20 gold coins? That's 40 gold coins."

"Ah, you...you're serious?"

Elena gasped.

Just now, when Celia stopped her from continuing to speak, she handed the stage over to Celia. Who knew that Celia would change the agreed-upon 10 gold coins and raise it to 20 gold coins in one go.

That's not all, she even wants 40 gold coins!?
40 gold coins!
Even a large mercenary group couldn't possibly gather that many gold coins in such a short time, right?
Seeing Elena's doubts, Celia waved her hand and said, "You underestimate rich people. It's only 40 gold coins. If I didn't know what kind of competition Pascal and his sister had, I would have asked for 100 gold coins!"

Elena: “…”

Humans are so scary.

Elena felt that the maneuvering and haggling she went through while selling information about the ruins had a kind of innocent beauty in comparison…

Elena said, "But, Celia, how can you guarantee that the Royal Mercenary Group will spend 40 gold coins to buy information? We only have a superficial understanding of the ruins right now, and we don't even know what the 'First Trial' of the ruins is like. Is it a unified maze, or different traps?"

“We’ll know that once the first batch of mercenaries who went into the ruins to explore come out,” Celia chuckled. “Judging from my observation of this ruin, it’s also the kind of ruin that has been replicated into a large number of mirror worlds, which may be a little different from other trap and puzzle-solving ruins.”

What aspects are you referring to as "not quite the same"?

"Other puzzle-solving ruins are places where someone buried treasure and set numerous traps to prevent anyone from entering. This castle maze... is purely malicious, like it was deliberately designed to annoy people. I suspect it was intentionally created by some powerful sorcerer, and the purpose... I don't know, but it's definitely not for anything good."

As she spoke, Celia laughed and said, "Perhaps after all our hardships, what we get in the end is not treasure, but a prank note from the owner of the ruins."

Elena chuckled, "It's impossible no matter how you look at it. Who would waste so many resources to create a ruin just for a prank?"

The two looked at each other and smiled.

……

Celia and Elena, who were the first to enter, returned safely. Although no one knew if they had gained anything, it sparked the exploration interest of countless people, resulting in very few people at the temporary camp that night.

Most people explore the ruins, and almost no one returns.

It wasn't until late at night that a commotion was heard coming from the direction of the ruins.

News of someone emerging from the ruins quickly reached the temporary camp, and all the mercenaries who were still observing rushed towards the ruins' gate.

Celia and Elena, who had been alerted, also went over.

Soon, they also learned about the mercenary group that had gone in and come out.

They were the second team to enter, the Royal Mercenary Group, led by Pascal's sister.

However, the team was in dire straits. Apart from the girl in the lead, the others were covered in wounds, staggering as they walked, supported only by the puppets, as if they would collapse and die at any moment.

The puppets were in even worse condition than them, and could only perform the most basic crawling.

Even the leading girl was not in good condition. Her expensive sorcerer's robe was torn, and she was leaning on her staff, with one hand on the puppet, her body trembling and panting.

In the evening, Pascal, who had been receiving Celia and her companion, stepped forward from the crowd and asked with concern, "Sister, are you alright? Let me treat you."

Celia noticed that he seemed concerned about his sister, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his lips.

The girl also saw the curve of his lips, slapped away the outstretched hand, and said calmly, "No need, I'm not at that level yet. Go treat the others."

The remaining members of the Royal Mercenary Group quickly rushed forward and carried the explorers back to camp.

The other mercenaries watched them leave, whispering amongst themselves. "What exactly is going on with this ruin?"

"Didn't those two come out completely unharmed during the day?"

"Hiss—the prestigious Royal Mercenary Group, can it be that they are no match for two random mercenaries who appeared out of nowhere?"

"Not necessarily. What if those two just went in for a quick look and came out?"

"I really want to know what happened."

"The Royal Mercenary Group members have come out, and the others should be out soon too. We can ask them to find out."

"..."

Listening to the mercenaries' discussions, Celia and Elena exchanged a glance and tacitly chose to leave, quietly following behind the Royal Mercenary Group back to their temporary camp.

Elena said, "Celia, wait for me outside. I'll go in and find out if what they encountered is the same as what we encountered."

Celia said, "No need, I can hear it from outside."

"I can not hear."

With that, Elena scaled over into the Royal Mercenary Group's camp and crept up there quietly.

Seeing this, Celia had no choice but to go to the back of the camp, lean against a tree, close her eyes and pretend to meditate. In reality, she had transformed her mental energy into a mage's hand, condensing several mental tentacles that reached into the tent where Pascal's sister was.

Inside the tent, a priest was treating her injuries.

But cold sweat kept pouring down the pastor's face.

Pascal frowned. "You can't even heal this little injury?"

The priest wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Princess Emilia... Master, I'm sorry, the curse on you... I cannot cleanse it. This peculiar curse is different from common spells; it's very difficult to cleanse."

"What about the rest?"

“Others… are even worse. Everyone is the same. The curse on this ruin is very peculiar. It seems to be a purification spell targeting the Holy Court. The purification spell cannot dispel this curse. I’m sorry.”

Pascal's sister frowned, about to get angry, but shook her head. "Never mind, it's not your fault. This ruin is indeed very special."

After saying that, she waved for the priest to leave, called over someone, and said, "I remember that the people from the Eternal Night Mercenary Group were also cursed yesterday. A mysterious elf went and helped him dispel the curse. Go and find those two people for me."

"Yes!"

Celia, who was secretly observing, glanced at the other person, shook her head, and chose to observe the other tents.

Pascal's sister seems to just want to be alone right now and isn't talking to anyone.

And the other tents...

Pascal seemed to want to know about the ruins, but the other wounded were simply not capable of answering his questions, and they all lay in bed groaning softly.

Having no other choice, he had to call someone over: "Go and fetch the elf who treated Eternal Night yesterday."

"Yes."

After his mercenaries left, Pascal suddenly remembered something and frowned slightly. "Those two... weren't they the elves who healed Eternal Night yesterday?"

(End of this chapter)