That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

"Although I can't fully understand it, I know very well what I need to do next."

"Very good. Submit a report as the assignment for the day after tomorrow. That's all for tonight." Matou Shinji closed his notebook with satisfaction and announced the start of the royal selection. After that, Matou Shinji basically tutored Emilia in politics full-time.

Emilia is very smart; by most standards, she would definitely be considered a top student.

Shinji Matou was barely able to fulfill the duties of a teacher, and with a full day of instruction, he managed to raise Emilia's political awareness to the level of an average high school student under the nine-year compulsory education system.

Leaving the study, Shinji Matou couldn't help but think to himself, "What's going on? This sense of satisfaction, this sense of pride, is even stronger than conquering a world."

A subtle, pleased smile appeared on Shinji Matou's lips. If he continued to live in this world for another ten or twenty years, he would be fortunate enough to witness a tremendous change taking place.

"Let's continue studying magic."

Shinji Matou arrived at Rem's room on the second floor. He pushed the door open and went inside, where the room had transformed into a spacious library. The blonde, drill-headed little girl, Betty, was engrossed in reading, seemingly unaware of Shinji Matou's arrival.

She's pretty much used to it by now.

Shinji Matou greeted her, "Betty, I'd like to learn about books on the Witch Factor."

Betty waved her little hand, and a book floated down into Shinji Matou's hand. He said irritably, "Take this, and then hurry up and leave Betty's room."

"Aren't there any others?" Shinji Matou weighed the books in his hands.

"Yes, but unfortunately those are Betty's books, and only Betty can read them. You are only given the right to peruse Roswaal's shallow collection."

"I see, thanks." Shinji Matou waved the grimoire in his hand and smiled as he thanked him.

So far, Shinji Matou's main jobs have only been two things: researching the magic of this world during the day and tutoring Emilia in politics at night.

Shinji Matou is a proactive "Sword God of Shiripo" type of player. He will not easily challenge his opponent unless he has an absolute advantage in strength, a thorough understanding of the enemy, and sufficient preparation.

So far, the only people Shinji Matou knows who are stronger than him are the Great Spirit Puck, Reinhard, and the Witch of Envy, Satella.

As for Roswaal, Shinji Matou almost killed him at the beginning of the Royal Selection. In fact, Shinji Matou also understood that there was still a gap in strength between them, and Roswaal would most likely win in a real fight.

That magic exhausted all of Matou Shinji's magic power. If Roswaal had chosen to avoid its attack and use magic to dodge, he could have easily defeated Matou Shinji, who had exhausted all his magic power.

That attack was a magic spell cast with the intention of maximizing its power and performing it as a performance.

Back in his room, Shinji Matou habitually sat by the window reading Roswaal's treasured books, which contained fragmented and incomplete knowledge about the Witch Factor. It seemed as if the author had compiled a collection of research materials related to the Witch Factor.

The books are not printed; some pages are made of different materials, dated different times, have different texts, and contain different notes.

"The blessings and powers of this world are similar to the inherent skills of Servants. Although I also have the power of death and reincarnation, using it will definitely lower the strategy rating, thus losing its meaning unless there is a situation where it is absolutely necessary to use it." Shinji Matou pondered to himself as he flipped through the book in his hand.

"According to this book that records research on witch factors, witch factors are not the power of witches. Specifically, they are similar to elves and have existed since ancient times. So-called witches are beings that possess witch factor adaptability beyond the norm."

"To date, countless magicians and scholars have studied the witch factor and originally established a fairly complete theory, but all of this knowledge was lost in the calamity that destroyed half the world four hundred years ago."

Shinji Matou put down the book in his hand, rubbing his temples with a headache: "There is still so much to learn. Although I have already learned all the mainstream languages ​​of this world, I still cannot understand some of the obscure words and phrases in this book."

Knock knock knock~

A rapid knocking came at the door.

Shinji Matou put down his book because he heard hurried footsteps. Without Shinji Matou giving any instructions, the wooden door was opened and the blue-haired maid Rem hurriedly reported: "Shinji-sama, my sister has discovered strange noises in the forest."

Well, I guess things won't be quiet for a while; once this started, it just won't end.

Shinji Matou frowned and pressed, "Has this been reported to Roswaal?"

"No, Roswaal went to the Sanctuary yesterday morning."

Why is this guy always absent at crucial moments? Could he be a traitor?

Shinji Matou inwardly scoffed, then stood up and followed Rem, asking, "What are the specifics?"

As they walked and talked, Rem hurriedly reported, "Yes, since my sister was attacked last time, we have strengthened the defenses of the mansion. At night, we often use our ability to empathize with animals to patrol the forest around the mansion. We even raised a cloud bird for this purpose. Just now, my sister discovered through the cloud bird's eyes that there seem to be traces of enemy activity around the mansion."

"Based on what? I didn't see it wrong, did I?"

"My sister saw a black shadow. The black robe he was wearing was very similar to the attire of a witch cultist."

Shinji Matou said decisively, "Then let's strengthen the protection of the mansion based on the premise that the enemy is the Witch Cult. Go and inform Emilia, I'll go outside and scout the situation first."

"I'll go right now."

Chapter 136 The Mushroom Cloud That Blooms at Night

As he flew into the air, Shinji Matou looked down at the vast manor, his demonic eyes gleaming with silver light, like a vast galaxy.

"Visual function, deactivated; magic sensing, deactivated; spiritual calculation, deactivated."

"Global search, begin."

The Azure Silver Demon Eye shimmered with light, stripping away most of its functions except for the ability to search for a certain power over a wide area, thereby expanding the range of that power's detection.

This is a skill that Shinji Matou learned by analyzing the bodies of magical beasts, used to identify those favored by witches.

The magic eye "sees" the scattered existences, and then uses the normal visual function of the left eye to pinpoint their exact location.

"There are three people in total, forming a triangular formation around the mansion, and they did not make any unusual moves."

Shinji Matou closed his Mystic Eyes, flew a distance, and then plummeted from the sky to a cliff halfway up the mountain, from where he could see the entire state of the mansion.

Standing on the edge of the cliff was a witch cultist whose entire body was wrapped in black robes. He only slowly turned around and faced Shinji Matou when Shinji landed behind him.

what happened?

Shinji Matou, who was prepared to use alchemy to bind her and extract information, was stunned. He could not sense any hostility from the witch cultist in front of him, nor did he show any sign of making a move.

The witch cultists bowed deeply to Shinji Matou, remaining silent.

Could it be that the witch's aura emanating from me has made me an ally?

After a flurry of thoughts, Shinji Matou understood the meaning behind the witch cultists' actions and decided to play along, asking in a deep voice, "Nothing unusual, is there?"

"..."

The witch cultist replied in a heavy, indifferent voice, "No."

Were they manipulated?

Shinji Matou's eyes opened slightly. Judging from the voice of the witch cultist alone, he had lost his ability to think normally. His behavior, reactions, and words were like those of a puppet on a string.

If it's just a puppet, we should be able to gather more information.

Shinji Matou steered the conversation further, asking, "What are you doing here?"

"Surveillance".

"why."

"Lazy... Laziness is the order of the Chief Archbishop."

What is the reason for the order?

"······unknown."

"Where is he now? I want to go find him myself."

"..."

"The village."

Upon hearing this, Shinji Matou's expression darkened. He walked up to the Witch Cultist, grabbed his forehead, and channeled magical energy into his body to activate Body Transmutation. After a moment, he came to a conclusion: "He has indeed been controlled, but with my current abilities, I cannot break free from this power."

Blue arcs of electricity flashed as the Body Transmutation Technique destroyed the witch cultist's body from the inside, then threw the corpse off a cliff to prevent the enemy from discovering it in a short time.

Since being attacked by Rem, Shinji Matou has been cramming on information about the Witch Cult. They are followers of Satella, the Witch of Envy, and almost every one of them is a madman. Hundreds of years ago, they committed countless heinous crimes, killing more innocent people than those who died in war. It can be said that every follower deserved to die.

Even if it's not to atone for their sins, letting them continue to live would pose a threat to many more people.

"The Archbishop of Sin of the Witch Cult is already in the village. Given their style, damn it! I hope I can catch up!" A dark cloud hung over Matou Shinji's heart. He flew into the air and found the remaining two Witch Cult members monitoring the mansion to deal with them as well.

Roswald, a border lord, possessed strength comparable to an army, and thus had virtually no subordinates, making him ill-equipped to respond to such unforeseen events.

Without a word, Shinji Matou flew towards the village, not even having time to return to his mansion.

After flying at high speed for a few minutes, as if to confirm Shinji Matou's ominous premonition, just as the lights of the village became visible to the naked eye, a dazzling light burst forth, illuminating half of the night sky, followed by a thunderous roar.

Boom!

A mushroom cloud slowly bloomed in the dark night, and the intense shock and magical turbulence almost caused Shinji Matou to lose his balance in mid-air.

It’s over.

Shinji Matou's face was ashen. Given the size of that village, at least half of the villagers must have been killed or injured in such an explosion.

If we consider the cycle of death as a game player's ability to reload save files, Shinji Matou believes that the current situation is already a bad save file, and there is no way to salvage it except by reloading.

Shinji Matou gazed at the village, then turned back to look in the direction of the mansion.

From the audience's perspective, the witch cultists were probably targeting Emilia. Although it's unclear why they attacked the village, their next target will definitely be the mansion.

If Shinji Matou goes back now, he can definitely hold the line.

The great spirit Puck, who protects Emilia, cannot come out at night, and Borozwaal is not at home on the border. Betty's situation is special, and several previous verbal probing attempts have indicated that she will not easily leave the library or rescue Emilia.

“Everything is heading in the worst possible direction, a death flag that couldn’t be more perfect… But there’s no need to rush back.” Shinji Matou closed his eyes and sighed, remaining calm despite the reluctance in his heart.

Compared to using the save/load ability, which resulted in the deaths of a large number of villagers, Shinji Matou believed that the latter would lead to a perfect ending and would earn him a higher rating for completing the game.

Shinji Matou decided to abandon this bad save file and use his Death Reincarnation ability to reload it once.

The ability to reincarnate through death should be put to use in this situation, even though Emilia and the others may face death afterward.

Continuing towards the village, Shinji Matou looked down at the entire village from the sky. Almost all the buildings had been razed to the ground by the explosion, and the buildings and forests were burning fiercely. Tragic wails and the heart-wrenching cries of children echoed in the sky above the village.

The firelight illuminated the corpses, and Shinji Matou watched as the black-robed witch cultists slaughtered the remaining villagers. His nostrils flared as he smelled the aroma of roasting meat.

This scene is like a living hell.

"Damn it!" Shinji Matou roared angrily, clenching his fists and taking a deep breath to suppress the murderous intent surging from his chest.

Even if we went down and slaughtered this group of witch cultists, it would be meaningless.

Back when he was still an immortal player, Shinji Kiri had developed a habit: given the ability to reload saves, instead of acting impulsively or in a fit of rage, he should focus on gathering information, analyzing the enemy's abilities, finding ways to counter them, and so on, so that he could conquer the enemy directly the next time and avoid further suffering.

The sacrifices made now will become the power to severely damage the enemy in the next cycle.

"I possess the aura of a witch, which can deceive ordinary witch cultists. The problem is the Archbishop of Sin. According to records, there are records of Archbishops of Sin easily destroying cities. Their combat power is at least at the level of Roswaal or even the Great Elf Puck."

"Gather as much intelligence as you can before dawn."