"So you mean...you took a catgirl as your maid?"
"Uh...yes."
"Oh no!" Lind thought to himself, looking at Alice, who still had a smile on her face.
He was all too familiar with Alice's smile; often, behind that smile lay the coming storm.
"Linde~"
Alice's voice was sickeningly sweet, but Lind felt goosebumps all over his body.
"You're really something, managing to take a catgirl as your maid."
As she spoke, Alice's smile gradually faded, replaced by slightly narrowed eyes that flashed with a dangerous light.
Linde quickly changed the subject, saying:
"That's not important. What's important is that the fox-human royal is still unconscious. Although he survived, the whole situation is still unclear..."
Alice took a deep look, sighed, and said:
"Fine, I won't argue with you anymore. I really should be able to help you."
"real?"
Linde grabbed Alice's hands and looked at her with a very ambitious gaze.
As Alice's small face was held in a pair of strong, large hands, her temperature visibly began to rise.
"Hmm... Really! I know some secrets about the orc cult, which should be able to help you."
While Lind was still in a daze, Alice withdrew her hands and began to recount what she knew:
"As you know, the orcs' god is that ancestor of all beasts named Urano."
"Legend has it that He gave birth to all the beasts in the world, and all the beasts in the world are transformed from His bloodline. Among them, the beastmen are the most rational beings in His bloodline."
"And occasionally, some beastmen carrying His bloodline are born in this world, or rather, it is a kind of atavism."
"And orcs who carry His bloodline will be revered by other orcs as Holy Blood Orcs."
Upon hearing this, Linde suddenly realized something:
"You mean to say that Nix is a Holy Blood Beastman with divine blood?"
Alice nodded and said:
"Based on your description, it should be pretty close to the truth. Otherwise, there's no way to explain why this princess would go to such lengths to come here to find her."
Linde thought about it and still had some doubts:
"Then why are they looking for these Holy Blood Beastmen? Are they training them to be combatants? If they just have some extraordinary talents, it shouldn't be necessary..."
Alice waved her hand to interrupt Lind, and said irritably:
"That's because these Holy Blood Beastmen hold a relatively high status in the Beastman Kingdom, and more importantly, they are to be led to participate in a ceremony."
Alice said mysteriously:
"This ritual is called the Wrath of the Beast God. It is said to be a ritual to please the Beast God, but no one knows any more details."
"The information we have now was obtained through spies from the orc kingdom. No human knows the deeper secrets, and even among the orcs, not many know them."
Hiss... Linde fell into thought, never expecting that it would involve a god, something he hadn't anticipated.
At first, he thought that someone like Nix was a genius with extraordinary talent, never imagining that she was a descendant of a god.
Theoretically speaking, then Nix could be considered an oracle of the Beast God.
However, one can sense a significant difference from the oracles described in the records, namely, the characteristics of divine power are not obvious, or in layman's terms, the intensity is too low.
Although it can directly enter the shadows, it is also easily countered. It is only a fairly powerful ability at night. Once it is daytime, on a large open space without any cover, wouldn't it be completely useless?
Perhaps guessing what Lind was thinking, Alice added:
"Are you thinking that this catgirl is also a being like you, or rather, a being similar to an oracle?"
Linde nodded noncommittally; that was indeed what he thought, but he also had some doubts.
Alice explained:
"Scholars have indeed discussed this matter before, speculating that these Holy Blood Beastmen are the Oracles of the Beast God, but the conclusion is no."
"According to intelligence, after participating in the Wrath of the Beast God, all of these Holy Blood Beastmen disappeared without exception and never appeared again."
"Some speculate that it was used for sacrifices, while others speculate that the orc kingdom hid it away specifically for war preparations. In any case, these secrets are hidden in the orc holy land, and we have no way of knowing them."
"No wonder..."
Lind guessed that if a Holy Blood Orc like Nix was useful, being found by the royal family would definitely be considered a merit or honor, which would benefit their tribe and status.
Otherwise, a marginal royal like Nazra wouldn't have gone to such lengths to find the Holy Blood Beastmen.
At this moment, Alice spoke up:
"I suspect that this fox-woman was tricked by someone. She was lured to human territory by being a Holy Blood Beastman, and then an assassination attempt was arranged. Even if she didn't die, she would definitely not survive if the Beastmen and humans went to war... What a brilliant scheme."
"One of the mastermind's goals was definitely to kill her, or rather, she was the only one most suitable for this suicide mission."
Listening to Alice's analysis, Lind also understood that if he didn't want to end up like Nazra, he had to find a way to keep her alive first, and then think about other things.
Otherwise, he would have no choice but to abandon his territory, move back to the earldom, and live as an oracle...
It doesn't seem like it's impossible?
Linde shook his head. How could he give away his own things, his own territory?
You want to take it from me? My sword is just as sharp.
"I'll wait and see. Maybe things will take a turn for the better once Nazla wakes up."
At this point, Linde decided to change the subject, since the situation had not yet taken a turn for the better, and they could only take it one step at a time.
Linde looked around the entire first floor, which had become similar to some car repair shops in his previous life, with magical artifacts of unknown origin everywhere.
"By the way... what have you come up with recently? I see that you've even expanded the outer room, and the entire first floor is practically turning into a workshop."
Looking at the workbench covered by a canvas, Linde was very curious about Alice's recent research results.
"Well... it wouldn't be accurate to call it research results, but... we have indeed made some discoveries."
Alice regained her former confidence as a child prodigy and couldn't wait to tell Lind about her recent achievements.
As Alice spoke, she manipulated magic to lift the heavy canvas.
The first thing that catches the eye is a huge workbench, surrounded by all sorts of strange magical items and tools that I've never seen before.
Next was a somewhat rugged-looking core placed on the table?
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