Just became an evil god and was summoned by the saint

As the two mercenary groups that were sent to explore ahead of the main force, they, like the Eternal Night Mercenary Group, occupied a very good location by the pool.

They even used local materials to cut down some timber and make wooden fences to enclose their encampment.

The wooden fence isn't high, only about a meter high. If you really wanted to get in, you could just jump over it.

But most people use the main entrance; nobody would bother jumping over the fence to get in.

some.

As Celia and Elena walked through the main entrance, Ross's phantom stepped over the fence beside them.

While she and Elena explained their purpose to the mercenaries guarding the camp, Ross had already entered the Royal Mercenary Group's camp, wandering around and touching everything.

Celia felt that if he wanted to, he could quietly take everything from the entire camp without the Royal Mercenary Group noticing.

However, Ross still retained a trace of divine majesty, merely wandering around without touching anything in the camp.

While talking to the mercenaries stationed at the camp, Celia secretly glanced at Ross, wondering if he had discovered something interesting in the camp.

After all, Rose rarely comes out.

However, Ross didn't tell her, and she didn't dare to ask.

Elena seems to have sold intelligence to the mercenary group before, and she appears quite adept at handling this situation.

Soon, the mercenaries stationed there led them into a large tent.

Inside the large tent, directly opposite the curtain, there was a low table, behind which sat a young man who looked exceptionally noble.

There are also two tables on either side of the tent flap, and the three tables together with the flap form a cross.

“This is our leader, Pascal,” the mercenary leading the way said.

"You two must be the legendary mercenaries who entered the ruins this morning? Please have a seat."

Pascal gestured for the two to sit down.

Celia looked at Pascal, feeling like she'd seen the name somewhere before, but couldn't quite place it.

She began to recall what she knew about the royal family.

According to official sources, there are nine princes and princesses in the current royal family of Ishtar. However, apart from the first three princes and princesses, the identities of the other princes and princesses remain a mystery and have not been revealed.

It is said that they are scattered among various top magic schools, where they are studying.

Celia has no contact with that circle for the time being, and doesn't know where they all are, but they are definitely within the Holy Magic Academy.

Celia made her judgment after observing Pascal in front of her.

"It must be one of the princes."

Ordinary nobles cannot maintain a gentle demeanor while exuding an air of superiority. Only the most noble among the entire empire possess this quality, a "nobility" cultivated from being served by countless people since childhood.

If it's a prince... then we have to squeeze him for a hefty sum.

Celia looked Pascal in the eye and asked, "The ruins are open. Won't Lord Pascal go in and explore?"

Pascal smiled slightly: "I'll give this opportunity to my sister. I'll go after she's explored it."

Another sister?

Those appear to be members of two royal families.

Elena smiled and said, "This is a very rational choice, because the 'First Trial' that leads to the true gate of the ruins is extremely dangerous."

Pascal asked with interest, "Extremely dangerous? How dangerous?"

Elena thought for a moment, "A danger that could wipe out the entire temporary camp."

Pascal chuckled: "Haha, it seems the two ladies encountered a great challenge inside. However, perhaps it's due to their lack of experience. It sounds like you've only just arrived at the entrance of the ruins and haven't actually entered yet?"

Such keen observation skills.

They were so confident in their conclusion that they hadn't gone in yet, as if they weren't afraid of being wrong.

Celia looked at Elena, sensing that Pascal's decision to seat them so far apart was deliberate.

By deliberately preventing them from communicating, they can be divided and gain an advantage in subsequent transactions.

In response, all Celia could do was speak first before Elena could, saying, "Mr. Pascal, the [Initial Trial] is not so easy to complete. Under normal circumstances, it will take at least eight hours, and without our intelligence, your sister will definitely fail. Do you believe that?"

Celia doesn't believe that the royal siblings are united and loving.

Otherwise, why not explore the new ruins together instead of leaving Pascal at the camp and waiting for his sister to return from the exploration?

Pascal smiled and said, “You don’t know my sister. What you two can do, my sister can naturally do as well. You may not know this when you enter the ruins, but my sister only arrived today. The reason the ruins’ gate is open is because she brought a pure magic crystal and left it on the gate forever, which is why the gate is open and all mercenaries can explore it.”

This was something that Celia and Elena didn't know.

After they returned, they didn't have time to go to the tavern at the temporary camp to hear the news. After discussing it, they ran over.

Celia exclaimed, "Your sister has great courage. I wonder if Mr. Pascal has the same courage? Core walkthrough data for the Ruins of the First Trial, a flat price of twenty gold coins."

Pascal's smile vanished: "Madam, although our Royal Mercenary Group may seem wealthy, we are not fools. The so-called 'Initial Trial' is merely a test before entering, not top-secret information for clearing the ruins. I apologize for the price."

Celia frowned slightly.

Why is this prince so stingy?

It's outrageous that they can't even spare 20 gold coins!

Celia couldn't help but miss Benovia. She wondered which noble or merchant Benovia was the child of, who used the Heart of Gold to practice runes and casually gave her 200 gold coins when exploring ruins.

In comparison, this prince is a real miser!

Celia chuckled softly, "This is today's special price; it'll double tomorrow."

"Are you so confident?"

Celia gestured for Elena to stand up: "Mr. Pascal, if you don't take it now, it'll be 40 gold coins tomorrow. We welcome you anytime. Remember to get ahead of us before we set off to explore the ruins; it's incredibly valuable!"

“If Pascal has any doubts, he can wait and see if his sister will be back in at least 8 hours. Besides, she definitely hasn’t completed the ‘Initial Trial’ and might even come back injured.”

I'm not going to celebrate 520 anymore; I'd rather enjoy writing.

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 go, whispering amongst themselves.

What exactly is the situation 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...