“I see.” Leon nodded. “How delicate is this matter?”

Red frowned behind his mask.

The young master’s face changed at the misunderstanding. “Ah, I don’t mean we won’t be discreet with our search… It’s just that any information about hidden dangers would be appreciated in preparation.”

“Why do you need to ask, then?” Red shook his head. “Just treat it as the most important mission of your lives, regardless of the actual danger or importance behind it.”

Emeric glared at Red. “This guy-!”

“It’s fine.” Leon stopped his friend’s outburst and nodded at Red. “It’s as you say. My men will treat this mission with the utmost secrecy and caution.”

The youth was satisfied with the man’s guarantee, so he didn’t push the subject any further. The mission itself wouldn’t be that dangerous, as Rimold’s sister was probably not someone the Golden Hand paid much attention to, but the actual risk was in Red’s identity, possibly being revealed. Rimold was his sect companion, and someone could make a point of investigating his sister because of his connection to Red.

It wasn’t a strong lead, but assuming the imperials were as smart and resourceful as they seemed, they would cover all possibilities in trying to dig out Red.

‘If I wanted to be completely safe, I would never look into this, but…’

There were some risks he just needed to take, regardless of the danger.

Red stared at Leon and change the subject. “Now, is there something else you wanted to tell me?”

The young master frowned and looked over at his friends, as if looking for their blessing.

Lady Ilse frowned. “What are you looking at me for? If you’ve made up your mind, just tell him.”

Leon sighed and looked back at Red. “The truth about the summoning formation is a bit more complicated.”

“How so?” Red asked.

“We believe that their summoning was a success, and that the guards were fooled to think otherwise.”

The youth frowned. “Why do you think that?”

“… One of us had a vision.”

“I had a vision.” Lady Ilse cut her friend off. “I saw a demon walking on the city streets in plain view.”

Red fell silent, digesting this strange revelation.

“She’s a clairvoyant.” Aurelia’s voice reached his ears, as if sensing his confusion.

Her voice, however, also displayed her surprise.

“Are you familiar with the concept of clairvoyants, Master Viran?” Leon asked.

“Somewhat.” Red nodded.

He knew these were cultivators capable of reading the threads of fate, learning information about the past, present, and future without having to physically witness said information. Such cultivators were rare, though, and most of what Red knew was from common knowledge contained in widely available books - which was to say, not very much.

There was also the fact the Spirit Hawk placed a divination ward on him that would protect him from the Imperial clairvoyants. In retrospect, that might have been the greatest gift the hawk granted him, considering how things developed afterwards.

Red looked over at Lady Ilse.

“Explain this vision to me.”

She put her teacup down and crossed her arms. “What exactly do you want to know?”

“How can you be certain about its accuracy?”

“There is no way to be completely certain about a vision, no matter how powerful of a clairvoyant you might be. There is, however, a way to corroborate your suspicions with information from the real world. Suffice it to say, with what we now know, concerns raised by my vision are now founded on actual evidence.”

“… You had this vision before the attempted summoning?”

“Correct.” She nodded. “Of course, interpreting a vision is not always so straightforward. They don’t always reflect reality, and sometimes they may even seem nonsensical, so their meaning may not be clear for a long while. In this case, however, what I saw seems to be quite literal.”

Red frowned. “That doesn’t explain why you think the summoning ritual was a success.”

Ilse sighed, as if resenting having to explain this to Red. “We believe in that because the vision hasn’t disappeared ever since it first came to me, no matter how many times I’ve divined it since.”

Red was about to ask something else, but he stopped himself. He still had a lot of questions about the mechanism behind such divinations and visions, but these weren’t of importance to the task at hand. Not to mention the fact that cultivators didn’t look kindly on others prying into their techniques.

“I’m sure you are confused by this as much as those who first learn of Lady Ilse’s skills are, Master Viran, but she is reliable.” Leon said. “She has proven her skills on other occasions, so if she has reason to be concerned, then we should also take the matter seriously.”

Red nodded. “I understand. However, no matter how sure you are of the threat, there are still a lot of problems with this line of reasoning.”

“Please, enlighten us, Master Viran.”

“There is no guarantee this ritual of summoning was a success. There could be others that will come to pass in the future, and that may be what her vision is pointing to, correct?”

Lady Ilse nodded. “You are right. There is not necessarily a way to distinguish past, present, or future with some visions. The only thing I can confirm is that this is still a very active concern in the fate of the city.”

“There is also the matter of a release of energy. I may not be familiar with summoning rituals, but I’m certain it would leave behind a great amount of demonic energy that would be extremely hard to mask.”

Even if the guards of the city weren’t certain about what they were dealing with, they would sense the energy left behind by summoning a being from another plane. The release of energy necessary to bring about such an event would be enormous even for a weaker demon, not to mention the lingering corruption.

“You are correct on both accounts, Master Viran.” Leon nodded. “It would be very hard to mask such a release of energy, but not impossible, much more so for the cult we are dealing with.”

Red noticed the heavy tone behind the young master’s words. “You mean…?”

Emeric piped into the conversation. “Serpent’s World Cult. Specialists in illusions, charming, and poisons. Members of my family have dealt with them in the past, so we know of the kind of deception they’re capable of. If anyone would be capable of such a feat, it would be them.”

“The timing is also very convenient.” Lady Ilse said. “The guards uncovered a large cult in the city and seemingly stopped their operations before they could come to fruition. To them, the threat is under control, at least for now, and so they lower their guard and stop looking into the matter as thoroughly. This will leave the cult to operate more freely and scheme behind the scenes.”

‘Sacrificing so many cult members just for that?’

It was an insane plan, but the youth knew better than to doubt the madness of demonic cultists.

“Still, you are assuming a demon was summoned to the city.” Red said. “Would they adhere to such subtlety?"

“If they summoned a demon, they probably have a way to control it.” Emeric shrugged. “Besides, I hear that there are some demons that are not mindless beasts, so you never know.”

Leon sighed and shook his head. “This is all just conjecture and theories we have come up with. Considering the threat, though, we need to treat the risk seriously, and this is where you come in, Master Viran.”

Red realized the meaning behind his words. “You want me to discern whether the ritual worked or not.”

This made more sense to the youth. There was little reason to be so keen on studying this summoning formation, as there was no guarantee it would lead them to uncovering any more of these cults. If they had reason to believe in a conspiracy, though, then studying the formation might lead them to find out something out of place.

“That is our main concern, yes.” Leon nodded. “Other specialists might have glanced over the formation and found nothing out of place, but there is no way that such a deception would be revealed with a cursory glance. This is why we want a dedicated Arcane Scripture master to study it.”

The surroundings fell silent as Leon trailed off. He looked over at Red, waiting for his response. The young master had put all their cards on the table, and now he could only hope Red would still move forward with the plan.

“… There is one more thing I want to know.” Red said.

“What is it?” Leon asked, with a curious expression.

Red looked over at Ilse. “This demon you saw... What did it look like?”

The lady’s expression twisted at the question. “That is something I would rather not like to recall. Besides, what does it matter?”

“A humanoid snake, is what she said.” Emeric said. “Beautiful and horrifying at the same time, or something like that.”

The woman glared at him, but Emeric pretended not to notice it and continued.

“It’s called the Serpent’s World Cult for a reason. Most of their symbolism is related to snakes, so it’s within reason that the demons they worship also look like snakes.”

“I see.” Red nodded.

He couldn’t help but let out an internal sigh of relief. He heard about this cult already and had suspicions they weren’t related to certain demons he had met before, but to receive confirmation was reassuring to his safety.

‘Or maybe I should be concerned that I will be meddling in the plans of yet another archdemon…’

Such concerns were beyond him at this point, though.

“Is there a schedule on this?” Red asked.

Leon hesitated. “… As soon as possible, is what I’d like to say. We have kept the formation site intact against pressure from the guard, but we don’t know how long we will be able to maintain it.”

“I need a week or two before I start my research. I need to make some preparations first.”

“Does that involve those formations you asked for?”

Red didn’t respond and got up from his seat. “Make sure to have everything I asked for delivered to my manor as soon as possible. Today, preferably.”

With those words, he turned around and started to walk away from the group. This time, none of the trio tried to stop him, staring at his back with a mix of indignation, uncertainty, and relief.

Soon enough, Red was walking out of the estate, escorted by a maid.

“You may board the carriage, Master Viran.” The woman pointed at the vehicle. “We will take you back to your manor.”

“I want to go to the market.” Red shook his head.

“That’s fine, too. Our driver can take you there and back to your home.”

Red thought about refusing, but he reconsidered a few moments later.

“Fine.”

Under her lead, he entered the carriage and, soon enough, they were traveling down the streets of the city. Alone inside the vehicle, Red was left to ponder the interaction he had just gone through.

Or so he would have liked.

“That’s a big risk you’re taking.” Aurelia’s voice reached his ears. “Just because you have some resistance to demonic corruption doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to fiddle with it.”

Red frowned and asked in a low voice. “Is there a risk in even researching it?”

“Of course there is! Much more so if it’s those serpent maniacs… They might have even left a trap behind in their formation so if someone tries to research it they would have a surprise waiting for them.”

“The formation is not active, so how would that work?”

“Who says it’s not active?” Aurelia snorted. “If it’s really an illusion, it’s entirely possible the formation is still working, waiting for an idiot to mess with it.”

“… I didn’t consider that.”

“Bah, you’re still too naïve! You have no idea about the kinds of tricks cultivators can come up with to fool each other, not to mention demonic worshippers!”

“I see. I still need to research it, though.”

“Ugh… I would like to say I am surprised at your stubbornness, but that would be a lie.” Aurelia said. “Just make sure you don’t die when the time comes.”

The risk was obvious already to Red, but the rewards were worth it. With this, he would be able to look into the matter of Rimold’s sister and gain a large amount of cultivation resources all at once. That would, in turn, enable another plan that was brewing in his head since yesterday’s events.

‘If subtlety is out of the question… I might as well make a fortress for myself.’