On such a late night, a thin veil of pale grey mist obscured the white gleam of the moonlight from time to time, causing the parlor to flicker between light and shadow.
The three of them sat facing one another at opposite ends of the sofa beside the glass wall.
"Do you know Duke Tiffany's executioner, Master Nigel?" Lanqi asked Countess Rosalinda.
He had a fairly favorable impression of the sergeant who had let him and Tata off.
If the executioner truly possessed a harsh, merciless disposition, he wouldn't have hesitated so much upon seeing Lisanci seemingly recover.
Having accepted the commission, Lanqi would naturally help Talia uncover the cause of the demons' berserk curse, and the executioner Nigel might very well prove to be an excellent informant.
"Lord Tiffany's Nigel, you mean? He was an orphaned demon blessed with extraordinary combat talent. When he was young, he was taken in by a powerful demon in the Posen Demon Realm and grew up alongside that demon's two daughters. They were sisters. Tragically, the younger sister succumbed to the curse. In the end, on that fateful night, Nigel severed the younger sister's head right before the elder sister's eyes..."
Rosalinda shook her head and sighed, speaking with a touch of heartache.
"Ever since, he never saw his mentor or his childhood friend again. He pledged his loyalty to Duke Tiffany and became an executioner for the Senate, dedicating himself to killing lawbreakers and berserk demons."
"Has this curse existed for a very long time?" Lanqi asked with a slight furrow of his brow.
He had originally assumed it was something frequent a century ago that had remained dormant ever since. But from Rosalinda's tone, it seemed there had been traces all along in recent years, only beginning to show signs of a resurgence lately.
"Technically speaking, it never truly disappeared. It merely dropped over several decades to a negligible frequency—even lower than the mortality rate of common illnesses—so it ceased to be a major concern. At the same time, for the sake of peace and stability between Posen's humans and demons, this legend, which easily provoked panic on both sides, was deliberately concealed. That was until an unknown point in time, when the frequency began to go awry. It was as if someone had acquired Archmage Palroni's forbidden curse, bringing his resentment back into the world once more," Countess Rosalinda explained.
"How did Nigel report this incident to the Senate?" Talia set down her empty wine glass and asked Rosalinda from beside Lanqi.
She had no desire to become a person of interest in the Kingdom of Posen the moment she arrived in the City of Flowers.
"My personal impression is... Nigel didn't report the situation in great detail, nor did he make any definitive claims. He merely recounted parts of what he witnessed and deduced," Rosalinda said, looking somewhat perplexed herself. "So, based on the inquiries I made through Marquis Rises of the Senate, it seems Nigel claimed he made an error in judgment. A demon had shown signs of going berserk on the airship, but it wasn't necessarily identical to the ancient curse known as 'Archmage Palroni's Resentment.'"
As for what really happened aboard the Floating Castle airship, Lanqi and Tata likely understood far better than she did.
"I see," Lanqi murmured to himself.
Talia noticed that Lanqi had slipped into deep thought.
"What is it?" she asked him in her mind.
"I don't think Nigel shielded me purely out of personal inclination. Rather, he himself might harbor doubts toward the Senate and the Demon Realm's upper echelons. That's why he didn't bring us back directly or report the fact that we can lift the curse," Lanqi replied telepathically.
Even Countess Rosalinda was unaware that the two of them possessed an unconventional method to dispel the curse.
Nigel's secrecy was undeniably an indirect way of protecting them.
"In his eyes, anyone within Posen might be connected to the curser, whereas we two outsiders are far cleaner—is that it?" Talia transmitted.
"Exactly," Lanqi confirmed.
While the two were exchanging thoughts, Countess Rosalinda cautioned them, "I don't know the exact details, nor do I care to pry. But going forward, both of you need to be careful. Quite a few witnesses to the incident you were involved in gave conflicting accounts. Whether in the Senate or the Posen Demon Realm, people might take an interest in you because of the rumors."
"Understood. Thank you, Senior Sister Rosalinda," Lanqi thanked her with a nod.
"Regardless, as a Platinum-rank card maker from the Kingdom of Hutton, the Senate will take your status into account and avoid offending Hutton. After all, we promised Hutton we would ensure your safety," Rosalinda said. As she spoke, she handed Lanqi a pale-gold mechanical puzzle box that had been resting beside the sofa.
Lanqi took it slowly. Even without opening it, he could roughly sense that it contained his Platinum-rank card maker credentials, proctor uniform, and face accessory.
Naturally, some of the items belonged to his proctor assistant, Tata. Talia had already registered her information with Professor Borao before coming to the Kingdom of Posen.
"Headquarters hasn't finalized the topics for the three exam sessions this year, but you'll definitely be the chief proctor for one session and the deputy proctor for another. You'll partner with me for one, and with another Platinum-rank card maker from the Aloran Kingdom for the other."
Countess Rosalinda lightly pressed her hand against the puzzle box, whereupon the mechanism smoothly unraveled and opened outward, prompting Lanqi to inspect the contents.
"Can't I be the deputy proctor for both?" Lanqi asked as he began taking inventory.
To be frank, he wasn't particularly skilled at certain exam subjects; he was quite a lopsided specialist.
"No, you cannot slack off. The proctor compensation is quite handsome, after all." Rosalinda narrowed her eyes and fixed him with a stare.
The compensation awarded to proctors could be exchanged for currency from the Southern Continent Kingdom Federation Bank, or used to purchase stock from the Southern Continent Card Makers Association at a steep discount. Furthermore, maintaining Platinum-rank privileges required regularly attending to official duties for the association.
"Then I'll be in your care," Lanqi could only smile wryly and nod.
By convention, the examinations would begin in a week, and even the proctors would only learn the exam topics two days in advance.
"Just drop by the City of Flowers branch of the Southern Continent Card Makers Association in a few days. I'll personally brief you on the specifics of the exam then," Countess Rosalinda instructed them.
"What about these next few days?" Talia asked.
"Sightsee at your leisure. Feel free to wander around Palieu. Oh, right—if there are materials you can't find in the Card Makers Association's inventory, you can check out the Petras Auction House in the city. They're also a massive retail chain across the Southern Continent, so they might have the treasures you're looking for," Countess Rosalinda suggested after a moment's thought.
She recalled Professor Borao mentioning the materials these two needed, and she had already been arranging to source the parts that could be bought quickly.
"No matter how much fun you have, you two had better not end up in the police station again. If you reoffend while out on bail, even I won't be able to get you out, and I'll end up publicly criticized in the newspapers."
Feeling slightly uneasy after speaking, she emphasized the point once more to Lanqi and Tata.
"..."
The two sitting opposite her on the sofa bowed their heads in mild embarrassment.
Getting thrown in jail for a street brawl was indeed terribly humiliating.
On the other hand, Lanqi thought, the police in the City of Flowers were remarkably capable.
They had managed to arrest even a Demon King.
"..."
Talia glanced sideways at Lanqi.
While both of them shared the blame for ending up behind bars, in all the years before meeting Lanqi, she had never once been arrested in any nation across the Southern Continent.
It was entirely because of this guy that she had become so easily provoked, acting nothing like herself.
"Why have the inspections in Palieu been so strict lately?" Lanqi suddenly recalled what Sergeant Zephyr had said when they left the Palieu Police Headquarters.
Ordinarily, the police department wasn't responsible for investigating cases involving demon curses; if one occurred, officers would hand it over to the Senate's enforcement troops. Thus, the recent shift in their operations clearly didn't seem to have much to do with the demons.
"Oh, right. You two should keep your eyes open. Recently, two or three Cardinals seem to be heading toward Posen, and their objective is suspected to be the Bishop of Destruction,"
Countess Rosalinda hurriedly told them as though just remembering.
"The police's greatest goal right now is to arrest a Cardinal. If they pull that off, their performance record for the past few years will be completely maxed out, and it would write a glorious chapter in the city's public safety campaign."
She explained the police department's motives.
Under normal circumstances, arresting a Cardinal was impossible; a Cardinal could level an entire city with a flip of their hand.
However, the Bishop of Destruction, Ivanos, was currently heavily wounded. Deducing from her trail, there was a very high probability that she had disguised her identity and slipped into the Kingdom of Posen.
Aside from the saying that 'the most dangerous place is often the safest,' large city-states also possessed defensive barrier fields. Other Cardinals couldn't attack her brazenly without immediately drawing the host nation's defense forces into a siege. Consequently, hiding in the territory of the United Council of Kingdoms also offered protection for the Bishop of Destruction, Ivanos.
If the Posen police ramped up their search efforts, they might truly hit the jackpot and achieve the miraculous feat of arresting a Cardinal.
After hearing Rosalinda's explanation, both Lanqi and Talia breathed a sigh of relief. Not bringing Hyperion along had indeed been the right choice; otherwise, the Cardinals might have set their sights on her.
"The United Council of Kingdoms also found it quite amusing when they heard about it. Their analysts stated that there is indeed a certain probability of catching a Cardinal through the police," Rosalinda continued, sharing an anecdote from the western central district, the Canbera Kingdom, where the council's headquarters was located. "So the next divination will likely focus on verifying Posen's containment of the Cardinals and tracing their movements within the kingdom. If a Cardinal inadvertently violates too many regulations, their record of infractions might even be exposed and turned into a public legal awareness video."
Whatever the outcome, she believed it would make for great public safety publicity.
Lanqi chuckled upon hearing this.
In his impression, none of the Cardinals were comedic relief; every single one of them was terrifying.
"Haha, if a Cardinal really gets caught, they'd become a total laughingstock. They'd definitely be crowned with the title of 'Inmate'!" he commented with a cheerful laugh.
Chapter 668