Chapter 5

Mirexia’s gaze was firmly locked on Winnie, unable to look away.

‘Virtue +50.’

‘Current Virtue: 9054.’

“Helping the evil Demon God Pillars betray your own kind, harming the innocent, when will you wake up from your mistakes?? You should really look in the mirror. Right now, you’re even less human than those you despise,” Winnie spoke with sharp words.

“At least you have people who care about you, people who are willing to raise you. What do I have? The Church sees me as a stain, the world views me as a fraudulent imposter. I’ve only received scorn and disdain since birth. The number of people who’ve ever shown me kindness can be counted on one hand. So, should I also follow your example and take revenge on the world, dragging both it and myself into the abyss??”

“……..” Faced with Winnie’s questioning, Zoe remained silent.

“So why did you become a spy and a mole for the Demon God Pillars? They’re a bunch of damned bastards. To them, humans aren’t even tools, they couldn’t care less about your life or death.”

“Anyone could help you, but it’s never going to be the Demon God Pillars. Don’t you understand that??”

Zoe knelt on the ground, her eyes hollow, still saying nothing.

“Student Zoe, is there some hardship that’s forcing you to do this?” Mirexia keenly sensed the issue with Zoe.

Could being despised and scorned by noble students really drive someone who managed to get into Carillian Academy to abandon their bright future and risk standing against humanity, aligning themselves with the capricious Demon God Pillars??

Mirexia felt there was more to the story.

“Honestly, someone like you really isn’t cut out to be a spy or mole for the Demon God Pillars. Your skills are far too lacking. If you’re truly in a difficult situation, you can tell us. It’s not too late to come clean,” Winnie added from the side.

“If we find out you were forced into this, there might still be a way to fix things. But if not, if you became a follower of the Demon God Pillars and infiltrated Carillian Academy out of hatred and desire, then the punishment you’ll face will be severe.”

“Expulsion is the lightest penalty. The Church and the various human kingdoms handle followers of the Demon God Pillars differently, but the severity is roughly the same. You should know this.”

“If you don’t tell the truth now, no one will be able to help you,” Winnie coaxed gently.

“…I really have no choice,” Zoe finally spoke after a long silence, her head bowed, her pale lips pressed together. It seemed the prolonged stress and fear of being discovered had pushed her to the brink of a breakdown.

And so, the secrets could no longer be contained.

“My younger brother in the orphanage, my only family, was taken by the [Bronze Blood]. They threatened me, saying if I didn’t want to collect his corpse, I had to follow their orders.” After saying this, Zoe seemed to deflate like a balloon, all her strength drained.

“You’re saying the [Bronze Blood] took your family??” Winnie frowned. “Didn’t the Church of Radiance notice this?”

“No, my brother isn’t like me. He has no magical talent, so he couldn’t join the Church,” Zoe shook her head. “And if I reported this to the Church, the [Bronze Blood] said they would kill him immediately. They also told me they would know the moment I informed anyone, especially the Church.”

“The [Bronze Blood] took your brother from the orphanage?” Winnie looked at Mirexia, who nodded in response.

Clearly, Mirexia had investigated Zoe’s entire file and could confirm that Zoe did indeed have a close relationship with her brother. Moreover, Zoe’s expression didn’t seem to be faking it.

No, it couldn’t be faked. If she were truly a skilled actress, Winnie would never have suspected her during the tea incident.

It was precisely because her acting was so poor, a far cry from the T0-level actress Aesphyra of the Terraria continent, that Winnie had become suspicious of her afterward.

Otherwise, the alchemical poison given by Erunes was colorless and odorless, leaving no trace after use. There would have been no way to trace it back.

“Student Zoe, if this hurts you, I must apologize in advance. Based on my understanding of the followers of the Demon God Pillars, the chances of someone they’ve captured and succeeded with surviving unscathed are almost zero,” Mirexia chose her words carefully.

“At least, within the borders of the Camella Kingdom, there’s no precedent for such a thing.”

“But, but they said!……..” Zoe’s emotions suddenly became agitated.

“They said they’d release your brother after the task was done? Student Zoe, leaving us aside, think about it rationally, do you really believe what they say?” Winnie asked.

“The followers of the Demon God Pillars are a bunch of ruthless predators. Can prey caught by jackals ever be released? Especially when they’re ten thousand times more vicious than jackals.”

“Let me give you some grim statistics. The survival rate of those kidnapped by the followers of the Demon God Pillars is still zero, regardless of their status. Once someone is taken by them, there’s no turning back,” Winnie shook his head.

“The followers of the Demon God Pillars would never let any living person go, especially one who knows of their existence and has been taken to their hideout. Even if they blindfolded you, it’s just to make you believe your brother is still alive, so you’ll continue to provide value for them.”

“Even if your brother were somehow rescued, he wouldn’t be the same as before. His mental state would be affected, to some extent.”

Winnie’s words weighed heavily on Zoe’s heart. She felt as if a lump of lead was stuck in her throat, making it impossible to speak, leaving her utterly miserable.

Mirexia had planned to ease Zoe into understanding the situation gradually, letting her come to terms with it slowly. But Winnie had laid out the harsh truth all at once.

“Student Zoe, if what you’re saying is true, you were indeed forced into this. But the fact remains that you’ve committed a grave mistake. Now, you have a chance to redeem yourself. Whether you can save yourself, and your brother, depends on the choice you make now.”

“…Are you saying there’s still hope to save my brother??” Zoe suddenly looked up.

“Honestly, the chances are very low,” Winnie didn’t mince words. “You know this deep down, right? It’s just that humans often let emotions cloud their judgment. We prefer to believe what we want to believe, even when we know better, and end up deceiving ourselves.”

“But if your brother hasn’t been harmed, trusting us and choosing us is the only thing that can help him, and you.”

“But if I do anything to betray the [Bronze Blood], they said they’d know immediately…….”

“How could they? If they were really that omnipotent, why would they need to threaten you? There are only three of us here. Who would know? Or do you think one of us is a follower of the Demon God Pillars? Remember, we were just attacked by them and nearly killed,” Winnie exchanged a glance with Mirexia.

Zoe was too inexperienced and too young. It was understandable that she’d been frightened into compliance by their threats.

“But it’s true! At first, I also thought it was just the [Bronze Blood] trying to scare me. But then I received a report detailing my entire day’s activities, down to the minute details like when I twitched my finger!” Zoe said fearfully. “And that was in a town within the Tyrell Empire, where I hadn’t noticed anything at all.”

“Damn, has the [Bronze Blood] infiltrated the Tyrell Empire so thoroughly?” Winnie muttered.

Or was there another reason??

Mirexia also found it strange. The [Bronze Blood], these shadowy followers of the Demon God Pillars, were like rats in the sewers. To survive, they had to crawl in the dark corners. How could they possibly monitor someone so openly??

“Regardless, this is Carillian Academy. Before we started talking, Princess Mirexia used a soundproof barrier. No one besides us will know what was said,” Winnie stated. “It’s up to you to decide what to do.”

“Then… what should I do??” Zoe didn’t hesitate much.

“Tell us how you’ve been contacting the [Bronze Blood]. We’ll use their own tactics against them, lure them out,” Winnie revealed his plan.

“Where do you usually meet with them? Normally, the [Bronze Blood] wouldn’t be able to enter the academy, right?”

Carillian Academy’s rules stated that during school hours, students couldn’t leave the academy without permission, or they’d face disciplinary action. So, Zoe couldn’t have left the academy to contact the [Bronze Blood] members.

“I… I don’t know any members of the [Bronze Blood],” Zoe hesitated before finally speaking.

“Then, Student Zoe, how do you contact the [Bronze Blood]?” Mirexia felt she was uncovering a bigger conspiracy.

The stakes were getting higher.

“There’s a hollow tree in the abandoned academy building of Carillian Academy. They leave coded notes in the tree hollow. The notes have double protection, so even if someone else finds them, they won’t suspect anything. They’d just think it’s a piece of scrap paper and throw it away,” Zoe explained.

“They’re inside the academy??” Winnie suddenly realized the gravity of the situation.

Given the [Bronze Blood]’s capabilities, there was no way they could infiltrate Carillian Academy. If they could, the academy would have shut down long ago.

So, who was delivering the notes to Zoe??

Well, this was quite the discovery. Following the trail had led to something much bigger than expected.

“Are you saying the person you’re directly in contact with isn’t the [Bronze Blood], but someone within the academy??” Mirexia frowned.

“I can’t be sure,” Zoe shook her head. “I’ve never seen the person giving me orders, nor am I allowed to. If I were to see them, or if they found out I was trying to uncover their identity, the [Bronze Blood] would consider it a betrayal. They wouldn’t spare my brother.”

“Things just got more complicated,” Winnie glanced at Mirexia.

They both understood what this meant.

There were other moles and spies of the [Bronze Blood] within the academy, and their identities were unknown.

“In that case, can you communicate with them and pass on information?” Winnie asked.

“Yes, or rather, this time they’ve tasked me with testing whether the president’s residual poison has been neutralized,” Zoe explained.

“Alright, then we’ll use this to lure them out. We might uncover something even bigger,” Winnie remembered that during the period between midterms and finals, a major incident had occurred within the academy.

The instigators of that riot were believed to be followers of a Demon Pillar.

Unfortunately, Winnie, who hadn’t played the game thoroughly, only had a vague recollection of the event. How it started, how it ended, and who was behind it, he had no idea.

But now, he was starting to piece things together.

Perhaps the riot was caused by the moles Erunes had planted within the academy.

Additionally, there was another issue: he didn’t know if the original Winnie had been involved in this incident.

Now, one of the moles, Zoe, had been exposed. But that wasn’t enough.

Based on Winnie’s speculation, the original Zoe had most likely been exposed before the riot as well, by Byran.

Yet, the riot had proceeded smoothly, confirming that there were indeed other followers of Erunes within Carillian Academy.

At this thought, Winnie rubbed his temples in frustration.

The deeper he delved into the plot, the more he realized how little he knew about the original story and its world.

If only he had read more about the game’s plot and world-building in his previous life, he wouldn’t be so clueless now.

As for why Erunes, that giant insect, had targeted Mirexia, and why it liked causing havoc in Carillian Academy, he had no idea.

Could it really be just for fun?

In fact, Winnie remembered that in the original story, Carillian Academy seemed to have terrible Geomancy, constantly being attacked by the Demon God Pillars and unknown organizations, with no clear motive.

If it were just random attacks by madmen, why not pick easier targets instead of this hard nut?

After much thought, perhaps it was because Carillian Academy was a gathering place for a group of ill-fated individuals. With them around, even the bestgeomancy would bring trouble.

After all, this was the main setting of the story, where all the heroines were located.

If he hadn’t been transmigrated here, he might have accepted this explanation. But now, the motives of the Demon God Pillars and those unknown organizations were clearly far more complex than simply being the “protagonist’s plot armor.”