Chapter 250: Found

"I am Laina, the Heroine Laina."

The small girl looked at the tall man, momentarily dazed.

Not long ago, it was the exact same two people, opposing each other, seemingly the exact same composition.

Back then, I was far stronger than now, yet also more powerless.

But now is not the time to think too much.

"The time I can sustain is quite limited; perhaps you can accept this."

Upon his outstretched hands lay a pale red glow.

"What is this?"

Li En calmed down; even if Laina returned, he was morally in the clear. The one who had tricked her back then was not him; he had no need to feel guilty.

At worst, it would be a fight to the death; wasn't the debt inexplicably on his back already large enough?

"A memory, my memory, retrieved by the 'Snake' from 'Him', is the truth you have been seeking."

Laina's pupils gazed at Li En; though her face was identical to Miss Lana's, they were clearly two completely different people, just as Laina, through Li En, saw another "existence".

A contingency left by the Snake? Perhaps it was worth some trust, but Li En...

"Was that note written by you?"

Li En pondered for a moment, then asked what seemed like an irrelevant question.

That day, the note appeared in the living room; the maids noticed nothing, not even the magical traps Miss Shaliman had set.

This meant either a master who could crush Miss Shaliman, or an insider.

Li En had previously thought it was a trap set by Rosalind, but from Hela's report, Rosalind herself knew nothing of these matters.

Then, the source of that elegant handwriting was quite intriguing.

And upon seeing "Laina", Li En suddenly realized; when he was investigating, hadn't the City Lord said the former Heroine Laina had investigated too?

If she had information, and upon confirming he was also investigating, passed it to him, that seemed plausible...

"It was me... but at that time I did not find the underground monster, only the Whisperer's data, and used that to find the truth."

Laina's expression toward Li En grew more subtle; this was not a pre-set trap.

In fact, the intelligence and scrolls regarding the Whisperers were in the hidden compartments of those bookshelves; if Li En had searched diligently, he would have found those things sooner or later.

Instead, his "Detect Evil" spell found the underground monster first, completely throwing the incident out of control.

Hearing this, Li En realized; this also seemed plausible.

If Laina had encountered that monster back then, regardless of the outcome, that monster could not have remained hidden there.

"Through the power of the Whisperers, I found some things; this is part of it."

Upon his outstretched right hand, the light points still flickered.

It seemed this was the answer to everything.

This time, it was Li En's turn to hesitate, to wonder whether he should accept all of this...

Everyone on Earth knows eating randomly is foolish, especially since this person had tricked him before; Li En still wanted to ask.

"What answer did you obtain from the Whisperers?"

"At first, I wanted to find that Great Red Dragon... but that answer required my entire life, and the Priest's state was unstable then, so the answer given would likely be inaccurate."

Heroine Laina had indeed gone to seek that Great Red Dragon that destroyed everything.

In their eyes, perhaps that was the root of everything.

But this answer, from the very beginning, exceeded the cost of life; considering the characteristics of the Thousand-Faced Dragon, even if she paid the price, she would likely not get the correct answer.

"So, I only asked for the direction the Great Red Dragon left in."

That works?! Li En thought; actually, it really does work.

This was not directly scouting its coordinates; anything with form naturally leaves traces; where that high-temperature Great Red Dragon passed, even without eyewitnesses, there were clouds, air, and atmospheric temperature trails.

Merely asking for the "direction" should minimize consumption as much as possible.

"My soul is 'single-minded', which is very helpful for searching targets; and during the pursuit, I asked three times, each time using up twenty years of lifespan."

In fact, it was this pure "obsession" that allowed her to ask for the target she desired.

The Whisperers' trading counterpart is merely "life", but regarding what specific life and how to trade it, the "Priest" has the authority to adjust.

After Laina obtained the data and intelligence back then, she seemed to have directly cultivated a "Priest", binding him to serve her.