Chapter 119: Letters and the Origin of the Ratmen

Krista floated beside Luo De, pouting and clutching her rear end.

Damn it!

I just glanced a little! Why did you whip me so many times?!

You even made me lift my skirt for you to whip me! I'm an adult ghost, for heaven's sake—I have dignity too!

I'll get revenge! I'll definitely take my revenge!

Forest Warden Luo De! Just you wait!

Damn, I wonder if it'll leave scars.

Krista couldn't help but touch it, and her body shuddered.

It hurt—but why was there also a faint trace of pleasure?

Luo De paid no mind to the Banshee's thoughts.

He drove the carriage toward Shi Ying Town while reading Lily's letter.

The letter began with their separation.

After parting, Lily had sent word to Jade City to report the strange behavior of the Blazing City army.

But sadly, it was ignored—and the tragedy still occurred.

Immediately after the horrific ritual ended, she acted on the Spirit Alliance's spirit, entering the city to aid suffering civilians.

From the lingering magical traces, she gained new insights.

Her magical thinking became clearer.

Later, she and a group of Spirit Alliance companions disguised themselves as bards and tried to infiltrate Blazing City.

And they uncovered some interesting details—

【

Since betraying Aitheron, Blazing City has imposed a curfew and greatly increased its defenses, so only I and a nimble catwoman could investigate (pity—it's not your type; her chest is tiny).

At first, we thought the decline in Blueberry fruit was the main cause of the rebellion, since humans make up most of the population and can't survive long without Blueberry potion.

But our investigation revealed the Blueberry decline was deliberate—and we learned that months ago, Blazing City drastically relaxed control over the Holy Flame Corps, causing some humans, unable to afford Blueberry potion, to turn to worshiping the Holy Flame, believing they shouldn't resist but should integrate.

At this point, we suspected this was a takeover plan initiated by the Fire Lizardfolk—

The Kaoe tribe outside Blazing City had corrupted or assimilated certain high-ranking Fire Lizardfolk within the city, using faith and counter-revolution to reclaim their territory.

But this theory had a massive flaw.

The legendary mage in the city was a human sent by Aitheron—a legendary mage who had mastered the 【Inferno】 domain, with absurdly high fire resistance, utterly immune to heat—why would he willingly submit to the Holy Flame?

The investigation stalled for a long time.

Just as we were about to give up, the catwoman accidentally learned that the Igo Cult had briefly preached here and met with that legendary mage.

After our inquiries, we discovered: five days after the meeting with the Igo Cult, Blazing City secretly relaxed control over the Holy Flame Corps!

We shifted our investigation—and confirmed deep ties between the Holy Flame Corps and the Igo Cult.

We also found numerous demonic summoning arrays near Blazing City's hot spring source.

The legendary mage had been at the seventh tier for years; his magical pathway was old and severed—he had no chance of advancement, no matter how many sacrifices he made.

Clearly, he refused to accept this fate, so he maintained ties with both Hell and the Igo Cult.

One of them must have given him a method to advance.

But unfortunately, our investigation had reached its limit.

A newly ascended eighth-tier legendary mage was far beyond our reach—we couldn't obtain direct evidence.

We'll publish our findings in every major newspaper on the continent; if you're interested, feel free to check.

Sorry for rambling so much—you must think it's boring, right?

I just miss those days in Jade City so much.

For some reason, even small events linger in my memory, refusing to fade.

Next, I'll cross the Waterfall Mountains and head south to Deepwater City.

I heard an old green dragon there tricked a wealthy local family into poverty—sounds fascinating.

Ah, how I wish I could investigate with you again.

But the Spirit Alliance never stops moving, does it?

(If you want to reply, send it to this address: XXXXXX—it's the address of a female friend of mine.

Of course, I don't require a reply; if you find it annoying, just ignore it.)

P. .: How's Krista? You didn't hurt her, did you?

—Your forever partner, Lily.

】

Igo Cult and Hell, huh.

The moment Luo De heard "Igo," he felt uneasy.

These bastards really love stirring up trouble everywhere!

But reading to the end,

Luo De's mood lifted slightly; he smiled and picked up his pen to write down his own recent updates.

He also expressed his longing.

Shi Ying Town had little magical resources.

Excluding the frequent visits from the goblin merchant Pete, the Spirit Guild was the only one.

The Spirit Guild—those who know, know—its goods were low-grade.

Magical nutrient solution was really hard to come by.

Luo De thought for a moment and decided to seek out the witch Dimia.

Lately, she hadn't come to the forest; it was said Shi Ying Town's affairs kept her too busy to find time.

Not long after,

City Hall, office.

"Plant-based magical nutrient solution?"

Dimia sat behind a large rosewood desk, piles of documents stacked high.

She thought for a moment, then pulled half a bottle of pale green liquid from her spell satchel.

"Leftover from developing new sand willow—it's probably expired. Still want it?"

Free is free.

Luo De took it.

By the way,

Dimia didn't have the haughty nature of Kallist; with a strategy in place and her own duties, she had stepped back from the sand willow project, leaving the research entirely to the elf.

Kallist didn't mind either—she only wanted to prove herself, and working alone suited her better.

"By the way, how's the investigation into the ratmen at the mine going?"

Luo De lounged in a corner sofa.

He examined the magical energy and spirit within the perception potion while chatting idly.

"Considered resolved."

The witch sighed bitterly.

She didn't even lift her head, still writing furiously at her desk.

"Remember the corpses from the Ruin Brotherhood? To prevent plague, our original plan was to cast 【Plague Ward】 and 【Purification】 before burning them all."

Luo De nodded.

That handling was correct.

In this world, where spirit exists, simply burning corpses isn't enough to eliminate the threat.

Without these two spells, not only could undead emerge, but certain peculiar plagues might spread through the smoke of burning corpses.

Yes, plagues in this world are just that absurd!

Like termites, invisible, spreading across the continent!

"The task was assigned to a mid-level city official named Artur—Humbert's nephew."

Humbert—the man who fell for his stepdaughter.

Dimia snapped:

"But that Artur, bold as he was, stole the spellcasting fees for both spells—and even pocketed the cost of matches—then dumped all the corpses into an abandoned mine shaft! That's what lured the ratmen from underground!"

(End of chapter)