Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

”I thought its horn looked really beautiful and would sell for a lot, so I did dig it up...”

”Cut the nonsense. So where’s the horn now?”

Loren did want that thing badly, and even if the merchant realized it, it didn’t matter — right now he was a piece of meat on the chopping block with no right to haggle.

”I used it to bribe one of the guards when I was dragged in...”

”Hurry, take us to identify that guard!”

The Bishop could hear Loren wanted that item, and grew even more attentive.

”Yes...”

Realizing he had a chance to get out of prison, the merchant became a little excited.

Immediately, the Bishop ordered all the guards to assemble so the merchant could point someone out. When the merchant was brought out, one guard’s eyes flinched; sure enough, the merchant identified him.

”Where is the gemstone you used to bribe him?”The shard from the Void-Horned Antelope’s horn looked a lot like a gemstone, so the Bishop called it a gemstone to make it easier to understand.

”I gave it to the warden...”

The guard cowered a little. He didn’t dare deny it and called the bribe a gift.

When the guard said that, the warden standing nearby suddenly began to tremble. He hadn’t expected that gemstone to draw the attention of both the Bishop and Master Mentor.

”The gemstone?”

The Bishop didn’t waste words and asked directly.

”I gave it to a minister...”

”You parasites of the state...”

Not finding even one gemstone after making Loren wait so long made the Bishop’s hands shake with anger.

”You two, lock these parasites in the dungeon. I’ll deal with them when I have time.”

After issuing the order to others, the Bishop and Loren offered a brief apology, then said:

”I’ll go retrieve the Void-Horned Antelope’s horn right away... I’ll have someone send you home first, and once I have it I’ll deliver it to you.”

”Forget it, I’ll come with you to look. I’m bored anyway.”

Loren refused the Bishop’s offer. Partly because he really was idle, and partly because he valued that horn — his presence could prevent accidents.

With Loren present, the Bishop felt doubly pressured. His main reason for wanting Loren to return was that Loren watching over things made him uneasy.

He knew very well how this country operated and feared that if Loren saw all the filth hidden here, Loren’s opinion of him would drop.

The Bishop rushed Loren to the royal palace at top speed, where they found the minister the warden had mentioned, but the gemstone had already been given to the princess.

So the Bishop and Loren went to find the princess. This princess was the current king’s daughter, in her thirties, and the aunt of the teenage Sylvia.

By this point the Bishop was somewhat stunned, but the Void-Horned Antelope’s horn had already been given to the chief minister by the princess.

Their arrival also drew the king’s attention. Once the king came, they didn’t need to go look for the chief minister, because the chief minister had already given the horn to the king.

Loren’s timing was just right, because the king was planning to present the horn to an envoy from the Canaan Kingdom.

”You people really are spineless as ever...”

Loren muttered, and the king’s expression soured.

”The doctrine of the Bountiful Church forbids accepting bribes. I think this needs to be cleared up.”

Compared to Loren’s casual tone, the Bishop’s voice carried much more weight.

”I’ll fetch the gemstone you want...”

The king knew he was in trouble now, but he could only comply with Loren’s request first; how to save himself could be handled later.

...

After rushing around for a long time, Loren finally retrieved the Void-Horned Antelope’s horn without incident. By then the horn had been polished into a regular gemstone, which made Loren wince.

These people had no idea how useful this thing was. The Void-Horned Antelope was a Mythical Creature — far more valuable than the Starry Sky Whale’s tears that Loren had used before. After all, one antelope only had that little horn.

No exaggeration: the material ground off could buy the lives of the king’s entire family.

”But this bit is enough for me...”

Using it as a teleportation component wouldn’t consume much, but Loren’s goal was to get out of a place like the Eternal Dark Abyss that had protective wards, which might expend most of this material.

Still, it was worth it. Once Loren went to the Eternal Dark Abyss, his strength would transform qualitatively.

At the very least he’d gain a dozen or so new life-saving methods, and then there would likely be no one left in this world who could kill Loren.

Back home, Loren went straight to his laboratory. He planned to head to the Eternal Dark Abyss as soon as he finished making a teleportation device.

The Eternal Dark Abyss lay to the north of the God of Night and Thunder’s territory, in a wild land. If Loren flew at full speed, it wouldn’t take long to get there.

But space and time were the most mysterious abilities, and Loren wasn’t entirely confident. Inevitably his research slowed.

He worked into the night, took a bite to eat, then returned to the lab.

He kept going until the next day before emerging. The research was essentially complete; now it was just a matter of time — once the coordinates were recorded, it would be ready. Loren then slept until the third day.

...

”Good morning.”

Loren woke early that morning and, unusually, caught breakfast.

He glanced at the newspaper and saw another city had been massacred. If this continued, the Gedlan Kingdom would soon be next.

During this time Movila hadn’t noticed anything amiss. Rarely, Loren found himself in the passive role.

”Why don’t we hide back at the old home? Even if someone wants to strike, they’ll probably choose crowded places like the Royal Capital. A border town would be safer.”

Loren suggested that, of course assuming the assassin wasn’t targeting him personally.

”Running won’t solve the problem, and we can’t just let so many people be slaughtered.”

Loren immediately dismissed that notion. He was never one to sit and wait for death.

Knowing someone wanted to kill him, Loren would only think of how to counterattack, not wait to die or run. Of course, unless he was truly outmatched — but there was almost nothing in this world Loren couldn’t possibly beat.

The best plan now was to wait for the attacker to come to the Royal Capital. Movila could create many clones, but she couldn’t watch the entire world; she could still monitor the Royal Capital.

Then, if anyone showed abnormal behavior, Movila would discover it. It wouldn’t be easy to perform such a large-scale sacrifice quietly.

After breakfast, Loren stayed in his bedroom. At that moment Naclis pushed the door open.

”Master Mentor, I’d like to go out for a walk. Will you accompany me?”

This was the first time Naclis had asked for something like this. On one hand she disliked going out, and on the other she rarely dared to ask Loren to accompany her.