On the third-floor corridor of Lichtenstein Castle.
Lanqi and Hyperion stood before the master bedroom that originally belonged to the castle's master, knocking twice on the door.
"Lanqi?"
"It's me."
Lanqi turned the latch and pushed open the master bedroom door.
Through the opening of the door, a slightly glaring, flickering shimmer instantly pierced the corridor's dim gloom.
Lanqi led Hyperion into the room.
Spacious as the grand hall at the heart of the ancient castle, the room's walls were covered with countless carvings and decorative details. It felt like an open history book, its rich colors and delicate lines drawing one irresistibly to explore the stories behind them.
Robust, ardent flames blazed in the marble fireplace. In the distance, dark brown floor-length curtains shut out the night, lending the entire chamber an even deeper air of secrecy, as though some unspeakable ritual were underway.
And beside the four-poster bed at the center of the room stood those same three familiar figures.
Wearing masks, the three clergymen—who had by now become quite versatile—were intently modifying a desiccated corpse.
"If all the prey's soft tissue has been dehydrated and dried out, including the internal organs, we need to apply more force when taking it apart. Yes, put your back into it; don't worry about damaging the prey."
Standing beside them, Frey was still instructing the three clergymen.
"Stop... Stop, please...!"
Surrounded in the middle, the withered, mummified corpse had pale skin with grain as distinct as ancient parchment.
Defying common sense, the corpse was still struggling in agony—a truly horrific sight!
The instruments in the three clergymen's hands worked repeatedly over the corpse.
Whether gentle or fierce, every movement elicited a faint, shrill cry from Count Palocas—a high-pitched sound that blended with the scrape of the scalpel cutting through leathery, hardened flesh.
"Hmm, hardly any smell of blood," Lanqi remarked in surprise.
"...Have you ever stopped to think why?" Hyperion could finally keep silent no longer, looking up at Lanqi beside her.
The two first approached Frey, who was still instructing the clergymen using his hunter vocation skills. According to Lanqi's training syllabus, once this course concluded and the three clergymen returned to the real world, they would be able to dissect both humans and beasts—mastering the skill thoroughly in a single bound.
After observing for a moment until the busy group paused their work and looked over, Lanqi spoke up to ask, "Everyone, is the werewolf among you?"
If the werewolf wasn't here, he could just head up to the iron foundry on the fourth floor to ask the chamber of commerce young master and the guard siblings.
"It's me," Frey answered promptly with a nod, watching Lanqi. He knew Lanqi had business with him.
"Frey, you don't really have the abilities of the wolf race, do you?" Lanqi asked, sizing Frey up with some curiosity.
On the way over, he had heard from Hyperion that even in the Shadow World information panel from her perspective, there was no separate prompt explicitly stating she was the [Witch].
Yet according to the sealed spellbook found in the castle, as a half-demon, she was indeed the witch in this Shadow World.
It was just that her demonic features were completely and flawlessly concealed by the [Polymorph: Human] spell card she had acquired last time; only her teammates and the two traitor Resurrection Church cultists who had received prior intelligence knew she was a half-demon.
Since the identity of [Witch] wasn't an extra status granted by the Shadow World but innate, it was very likely the same case for [Werewolf].
"Yes. I browsed some ancient tomes in the library and found records concerning the werewolf race, and I finally understood why I receive a slight enhancement at night."
Frey had also finally figured out something that had baffled him for a long time back in the real world.
Although he wasn't of the wolf race, his bloodline had likely undergone a bit of atavism. Even in the real world, he would grow stronger under moonlight, gaining an all-attribute boost and enhanced regeneration.
"I originally had black hair when I was a child. It only turned grayish-white as my tier increased, and it was from then on that I awakened more and more traits similar to the so-called wolf race," Frey explained to Lanqi and Hyperion.
In a sense, he could be considered half-wolf now.
Even before awakening wolf traits, however, he had already possessed potent regenerative ability. At night, in a one-on-one duel against any Blood Clan member of the same tier, he was confident he wouldn't lose.
After chatting briefly, Lanqi asked Frey, "Frey, sorry to bother you, but could you come with me for a moment?"
"No problem."
...
Frey briefly went over the key points of the subsequent dissection steps with the three clergymen before leaving the bedroom with Lanqi and Hyperion.
The three walked out of the room together, their footsteps once again breaking the silence of the third-floor corridor, echoing against the cold stone walls and passageway.
"What do you need me to help with?"
"I received the latest intel: beneath the wine cellar in this castle's basement, another Blood Clan viscount remains sealed away. Blood from a witch and a werewolf is needed as material to break the seal, so we have to go rescue him."
Lanqi looked thoroughly eager to save a life.
Frey nodded.
By that point, he understood. Nothing more needed to be said—Lanqi had speaking eyes, and Frey could read them.
"Frey, before entering the Shadow World, we were saying that the academic visit delegation from the Aloran Kingdom would add quite a burden to the president's workload. According to estimates, they should arrive at Ikerite Academy in a day or two to begin a two-week academic visit. The Shadow World will end in four days, and once we're out, we can give the president a good hand."
The three slowly descended the stairs, chatting casually as they walked, each footstep heavy as a drumbeat.
The pitch-black stairway was like a doorway leading into the unknown, while every candlelight was like a warm hand extending aid to the three, driving away the shadows.
They were usually just as leisurely when carrying out student council tasks at Ikerite Academy's Old Liberal Arts Building.
"Definitely."
"Besides, there will be an elite Resurrection Church cultist hidden in the Aloran Kingdom's delegation whose objective is to murder Hyperion and destroy trust between the two kingdoms. This is a severe, malicious plot that no one else has realized yet. And to protect our informant's safety, we can't report it to the kingdom for now. We need to stage an accident to catch the criminal."
Lanqi continued with righteous conviction, exuding quite the headmaster's sense of responsibility.
Hearing this, Hyperion froze for a moment.
She couldn't shake the feeling of intense déjà vu...
Hyperion remembered the intel Priestess Sticela had shared: a very dangerous fellow wanted to stage an accident to kill her on campus.
As it turned out, that person and Lanqi seemed to be running toward each other in mutual accord.
Lanqi was thinking the exact same thing.
So now it just came down to whose accident would be the bigger accident, huh?!
Chapter 162