Chapter 16 The Devil's Temptation

When Haina returned from the tavern basement, she felt she was almost full from eating ashes.

When she went down, she was actually quite nervous and apprehensive. Haina had a feeling that there might be some kind of trap, mechanism, or curse in the basement—perhaps there were familiars being raised there, or perhaps even synthetic beasts in jars.

But to her disappointment, she explored carefully for a long time but found nothing.

There wasn't even the altar described in the novel, reeking of blood and filled with severed limbs. Aside from a few areas with signs of life, everything was covered in dust. The most common items were various bottles and barrels of wine she didn't recognize.

The double bed in the corner, perhaps due to poor ventilation and lack of sunlight, was damp and musty. She even felt a little sympathy for these demonologists - their quality of life was too poor.

She easily found the book "Alchemical Code" that Aiwas wanted.

It looked a lot like a textbook, about the thickness of a full semester's required course. It was only two fingers thick and a palm and a half long. Unlike a textbook, it had a distinctive dark red leather cover that felt like cowhide.

It looks very expensive at first glance.

At least... it should be worth ten white coins, right?

Maybe more, but the price is enough to make people want to steal it.

Aiwass lacked much life experience—if he took something like this out, he would definitely be noticed. Even a thief who knew nothing about the supernatural world and forbidden knowledge could easily judge the value of this book from its material.

And this evil sorceress must have treasured this book very much.

Because the book was placed on the desk beside the bed, next to it was a wine glass filled with water - this was one of the few places in the basement that was free of dust.

Apparently, the dangerous bald sorceress was reading this book before they arrived.

Haina did see a ritual site in the basement. To make room, the residents had apparently moved all the wine barrels to a corner, even stacking two of them vertically together, creating this area, only five steps in diameter.

Ten names of unknown meaning were inscribed within a ritual circle. A strange geometric pattern was also drawn in the center, and she could only barely decipher the symbol for "moon."

There was no blood or broken limbs on the ceremony site.

She only saw an empty swaddling cloth, lying quietly in the center of the circle. Just in case, she did not lift the cloth.

But in order to prevent the ritual from running automatically, she first cut all the ritual strings with the sword in her hand and completely destroyed the ritual site before she dared to start investigating.

This is also the method we were taught in school: if you see a ritual set up by a believer of the transcendental path, do not enter or take anything out. First, use a sharp object that has been blessed or cursed to gently cut along all the lines. For example, if it's a circle, you can cut it once anywhere; if it's a triangle, you need to cut it three times; if it's a hexagram, you need to cut it six times.

Haina remembered this knowledge very clearly.

Because when she was learning this knowledge, she had an exciting illusion that she was fighting against demons. She had carefully studied the techniques for fighting various illegal supernatural beings and even the techniques for fighting demons.

But it wasn't until now, almost graduation, that she learned from her colleagues that... in fact, more than 90% of inspectors might never see a living demon in their lifetime. If they did see one, they probably wouldn't have the chance to show it off to others.

Because demons cannot appear alone. When the demon's summoner dies, the demon will be sent back.

This means that when the demon was discovered alone, the evil warlock who summoned the demon must have been nearby - and most likely noticed him. But he was unable to find the other party.

When they really encountered such a powerful enemy, they would usually hand it over to the white gloves of the Inspectorate. It was not their turn to take action.

So Haina fell into a very depressed mood.

I have a lot of professional knowledge, but I don’t actually use it at work.

In most cases, the work involves checking taxes, checking various identity documents, maintaining public order, and inspecting hygiene conditions, safety hazards and contraband. These are meaningless, extremely busy, and completely risk-free tasks.

In most cases, swords didn't even need to be drawn. Common thieves and thugs could be pinned to the spot with just a shout. And for those who couldn't be pinned down with a single shout, they would at least resort to a human wave tactic—facing a powerful enemy that couldn't be defeated quickly alone was a serious offense, punishable by confinement.

With a large crowd of people, swords were no longer necessary. In this situation, engaging in close combat with the criminals would easily prevent teammates from intervening. It would be more efficient to use a gun.

The result is that the legal tactics used in the onboarding assessment are actually never used.

Haina was quite dissatisfied with this.

——If she had known that the work in the Supervisory Bureau was so boring, she might as well have joined the army as an air cavalryman!

She has been going through the process of getting her griffin for two months, but she hasn't seen a single feather yet!

Originally, Haina had a dream: once her equipment and griffin arrived, she would ride her griffin, wearing armor and carrying a sword, and show off at school. She would be incredibly impressive, and her classmates and younger students would surely gather around to admire her heroic presence. The teachers would also use her as a role model to teach the younger students.

…But now it seems that I may not be able to touch my own griffin before graduation.

Haena coughed and pushed the door open with her left elbow. Her right hand gently puffed the air in front of her, and her left hand carefully held the book, as if it were a tray with a teacup on it.

She saw Aiwass sitting quietly and obediently in his wheelchair, as if he was afraid of the smell of the corpse, and he stayed very far away from the horrible dead body.

"Does it feel fishy?"

Haina asked casually, coming over and handing the book to Aiwass: "Hide it quickly... The inspector from Lloyd's District will be here soon, don't let him see it."

As she passed the corpse, the strong smell of blood suddenly filled the air, making her cough even more violently.

"This is it, thank you, Senior!"

Aiwass happily took the book and responded sweetly.

The corners of Haina's mouth curled up slightly. She liked the feeling of being needed.

She hadn't felt it before during the battle, but now that she had some free time, her gaze couldn't stop drifting to the corpse. The smell was getting stronger and stronger, making her feel increasingly uncomfortable.

Finally, Haena couldn't bear it any longer. She pulled a white cloth from the table next to her and covered the upper body of the sorceress's body.

"If you feel uncomfortable, why don't you cover yourself up?"

"Because I thought we needed to protect the scene..."

Aiwass said hesitantly, "If you cover it with a cloth, won't it destroy the evidence on the body?"

"What?"

Haina was stunned for a moment.

She looked back at the corpse and instinctively felt that it made sense.

…But why isn’t this taught in schools?

Unable to think of the reason, she turned around and said stubbornly, "Because there's no need to worry about any clues. We all know that she was shot dead by you... Is there any need to investigate this? I saw it clearly. I am a witness myself, no other evidence is needed."

"Of course, this isn't your fault. Your shooting was a heroic act of bravery and justice. I will make this clear to the Supervisory Bureau."

Speaking of this, she couldn't help but sigh - Aiwass is really a good boy who obeys the rules and knows how to be polite.

——Completely different from myself.

Haena sighed sadly.

So she decided to confess.

She said hesitantly, "Mr. Aiwass."

"What?" Aiwass was stunned.

"I have something to apologize to you for..."

"No, no, there's no need to be so polite, Senior... Aren't we friends?"

"That's why I'm speaking out."

Haina looked ashamed: "When I was looking for your book downstairs, I couldn't help but flip through a few pages."

——In fact, she was actually worried about whether there was any curse or poison in the book.

She felt she was physically strong and decided to give it a try herself.

But there was no need to say that. It sounded too much like an excuse. It was better to just admit that you wanted to watch it.

...Because she actually did want to see it.

If it were the Haina before today, she would definitely not accept such a crooked temptation. But on the way here, after hearing what Aiwass said, she suddenly felt that she seemed too old-fashioned before.

I want to become a "superior", which is an idea belonging to the way of transcendence; I think Aiwass is handsome, elegant, gentle and cultured, which is the influence of the way of "beauty" or "love".

Similarly, after reading this book, I became curious... I was infected by the principles of [balance] and [wisdom].

The Path of Balance represents knowledge and science, a path of equal understanding of the world. The Path of Wisdom is essentially related to mystery, rationality, and the pursuit of truth. This is all normal and part of being a normal person.

This is nothing to be ashamed of.

What she really deserves to apologize for is that she touched other people's things and read other people's books without permission.

And what made her feel ashamed was... she had to admit that the things in this book did have some appeal.

She just flipped through a few pages and was immersed in the mysterious and amazing world, which broadened her horizons.

Haena stayed downstairs for about fifteen minutes, and spent more than ten of those minutes reading the book. But she could only flip through it briefly, and then she felt she had to go out and read it... Otherwise, Aiwass would definitely be scared to be alone in a room with a corpse.

After all, this is the Lloyd's district with poor security.

What if a criminal comes outside at this time?

Aiwass was too weak to protect himself properly. If he fired, he might accidentally kill someone.

Killing a demonologist is no big deal and may even be rewarded; but if you kill a civilian, you may end up in jail.

And what if there were more people? He might not have many bullets left, and he might not dare to shoot, or his weapon might be taken away...

Thinking of this, Haena ran over worriedly, only to find Aiwass was safe and sound.

Then looking back, she felt itchy again.

The previous flip did nothing to quench her thirst, but only made her more curious.

"I'm a little curious."

Taking a deep breath, Haena frankly admitted her desire: “I also want to see…that book.

"Can I come to your house and see it later?"

"But as an inspector, Senior came to our house for no reason... Isn't this a bad influence?"

Aiwass declined, "That would only lead to gossip about both Father and you. As you know, some inspectors accept money from merchants and act in a manner that's clearly biased. I mean, even if you didn't do it, you wouldn't be able to refute it when someone says that. Because what you actually did is even more unexplainable."

"……really."

Haina nodded dejectedly: "You are right."

"But," Aiwass changed the subject, "Senior saved me, helped me get my revenge, and helped me find this book again—I have to thank you for your help, both emotionally and logically.

"So, if you want to read this book, you can ask me out regularly in your free time. You know, a more private place? Or if that's not possible, I can also bring it to school. There are always places like that on campus."

Aiwass narrowed his eyes, revealing a kind and gentle smile, like a cunning fox, patiently coaxing: "My daily work must be a bit tiring, right? If you have anything worth complaining about, or if there's anything major that's happened at the Supervisory Bureau recently, you can tell me about it then."

She's actually interested in alchemy...

Aiwass's mind shifted. Knowing her personal preferences made things much easier. Haina could easily become his spy within the Supervisory Bureau.

...It's really hard to learn good things, but it's easy to learn bad things.

Senior Haina, who was originally upright and righteous, was easily seduced by herself at the moment when her firm belief was shaken.

I don't know who the devil is.

I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but Aiwass feels that if he were to be a demon, he would be much more professional than the Shadow Fiend.

Upon hearing this, Haina was extremely grateful.

She respected Aiwass's generosity and gentle consideration for others, and couldn't help but use honorifics towards her junior: "Thank you, Mr. Aiwass! But...is this too much trouble for you?"

Aiwass just smiled and waved his hand. "It's okay, no trouble. It's called taking what you need."

"—After all, I'm also curious about the daily work of the Supervisory Bureau."

(End of this chapter)