Aurelia stared at him for a few long seconds.

“Do I need to list the problems with that idea?”

Red shook his head. “I am well aware of them.”

“Then why consider it? You’re not stupid, so you know how insane the idea of extracting such specific information from a secretive group like that will be.”

“I don’t expect them to have a library with books about how to remove a curse.” Red said. “The best way to go about it would be to capture one of them and interrogate them about where I could obtain that kind of information.”

“What’s the guarantee the person you capture will know about it?”

“Then I will ask who might know, and I will narrow down the list of suspects even if only by a small amount.”

Aurelia snorted. “And then what? You will go through every member of their cult one by one? What if only their leader knows about it? Will you make it your goal to dismantle their entire cult in this city for the answer?”

He nodded. “It’s still the best way to achieve my goal in enough time.”

Red was under no delusions. This was still an extremely dangerous task, and even if he succeeded, there was no guarantee he would get the answers he wanted. It was very much a bet, and while he wasn’t averse to taking risks, he wasn’t used to gambling with his life for no perceivable reward.

This was a decision taken out of necessity, not out of choice.

Aurelia seemed to guess as much if Red was to judge by her serious expression.

“I know why you are doing this.” she said. “You want to help your friend’s sister, whether out of a sense of guilt or obligation. But you need to ask yourself - is it worth it?”

Red didn’t respond, and kept staring at the woman with his impassive expression.

She continued. “You need to first be able to help yourself before thinking of helping others. You already have demonic traces all over you, and you know better than anyone the risk of drawing unwanted attention to yourself. If something goes wrong, you won’t even be able to save yourself, much less that girl.”

“Do you not believe I can do it?” Red asked.

“You are growing stronger, and with my help, one day you will be capable of going against any cult in the world. Right now, though, you have barely begun cultivating, and you are taking a risk that is completely unnecessary. Is your life and all that you can accomplish for your companions in the future worth taking a chance to save someone in the present who you don’t even know you can save?” She shook her head. “You are smarter than this.”

“It’s not about how likely I am to succeed.” Red shook his head. “It’s about how I am the only one that can do something about it.”

“… Even if the chances of success are so small?”

“Even if it is almost impossible.” He nodded. “It is my obligation.”

Once upon a time, Red thought he would repay his debt to the sect and leave for his own journey to the world. The more time passed and the more he grew accustomed to the truth of the surface world, the more he realized how big the debt he owed to them was. The protection, tutelage, and trust put into that slave boy who brought nothing but disaster with him was something no sane person would provide. Yet, they had given that to him, even when it came at the cost of their own lives.

Even now, Red didn’t know why they did it, and he didn’t think he would have done the same in their position. However, he didn’t need to understand it, he only felt it was right to repay in kind.

That girl was the most important thing to Rimold, a companion of his. How could he face the man in the future and tell him he had the chance to save her but didn’t because of the dangers? Even if he went into detail about how the chances were small and how risky it all was, even if Rimold forgave him, it didn’t sit right with Red himself.

If he could do something, then he was under the obligation to do it.

“You don’t need to concern yourself too much.” Red said. “I don’t intend to tackle this all by myself.”

Aurelia raised an eyebrow. “You mean those brats?”

He nodded. “They are interested in the demonic cults as well. I can’t say I fully trust them, but with their help, I will have support and a legitimate reason to look into these matters.”

“And what about your other identity? Are you not worried your demonic ‘allies’ will reveal your identity if they discover your prodding?”

Red sighed. “If I can keep my efforts a secret from them, it would be better. It’s likely at one point or the other that they will find out, though, and by then I can only hope I have already accomplished my goal.”

He was in the city under the guise of being a Black Dragon cultist. This was enough of a deterrent to keep the other cultists away from him, but it was a flimsy protection at best, and Red was prepared for a potential falling out in the future. In some ways, it would be best to be the one to choose when their confrontation would happen rather than being taken by surprise.

Aurelia seemed to reflect on his words for a while before shaking her head. “Sometimes I think you are too cold and too focused on cultivation, at the detriment of everything else around you. At times like this, though, you surprise me and show these noble attitudes that will do nothing but bring you trouble for your cultivation… Even now, Red, I am still trying to learn who you are, but I think I’m starting to understand something my seniors used to tell me about rogue cultivators.”

“And what is that?”

“That they were all not quite right in the head.”

…

Red spent the next few hours recovering his energy and waiting to be called upon.

It wasn’t until some time past midday that he heard a knock at his door. He took one last look at the imp, who nodded with a confident expression.

“I will take care of everything while you are gone, master!”

Red nodded and walked over to open the door. He already knew who was waiting for him from their fluctuations.

“I assume you are ready, Master Viran?” Pierre, the guard captain, asked without ceremony.

He was alone, except for the coach who was driving a carriage that was parked right in front of the manor.

Red nodded. “I am.”

Soon, he was aboard the carriage, sitting across from Pierre as he held onto his bag. He had brought the minimal with him in a bag, which included his swords, his spirit stones, and his other sensitive possessions. The rest of the materials he had ordered from Leon were all left back at his manor.

He had expected to go the entire trip in complete silence as Pierre sat across from him with his stern expression and crossed arms. However, a few minutes later, the guard broke the silence.

“How much has Leon told you about the formation?” he asked.

Red moved his gaze from the open window to Pierre. “You and the guard fought some cultists from Serpent’s World Cult. They killed themselves before you could capture them, and you found a summoning formation in the basement.”

“So you have the gist of it.” Pierre nodded. “The evidence we gathered indicates the formation wasn’t activated, but my superiors haven’t been very thorough in their investigation. To them, since no outward signs of summoning were found, there is no reason to spend resources to investigate it. I, however, do not share their optimism and think that when it comes to demonic matters, we can never be too thorough.”

“… Were you the one who told Leon about the formation?”

Pierre seemed to hesitate for a second, but then nodded. “Leon and his father share my concerns. They think that the current political turmoil in the city presents the perfect opportunity for demonic cults to act, and we can’t allow anything to slip us by. Other… ‘powers’ within the city don’t seem to agree, though, and even after the Blood Moon, they won’t act until they see demons roaming the streets.”

“I understand.” Red said. “Is there a reason you’re telling me this?”

“It’s for your own benefit in case you get mixed into this political mess more than you already are… There is another reason, though.”

At this, Pierre pause and looked around with a frown, as if searching for any eavesdroppers even inside this moving carriage. Only after a while did he seem satisfied and continue.

“The place we found these cultists is in a delicate commerce region to a few noble families in the city.” he said. “Some underground deals go through these, and while it doesn’t seem like these cultists were involved in them, these people were none too happy when we started investigating that region.”

Red frowned beneath his mask. “Is that why the guards didn’t want to investigate any further?”

“I would like to say that was the reason, but it was more of an incentive. They were already all too eager to consider the case closed in the first place and move on to what they considered to be more important matters.”

“Leon didn’t tell me any of this.”

“These underground deals weren’t something he knew about at the time. In fact, it’s not something most of the guard is privy to. I only learned about it recently through my own investigations, and can only assume a select few in the City Guard even knew about it in the first place.”

Red felt a headache coming as he learned this.

“Is this going to be a problem while I study the formation?” he asked.

“No, I personally guarantee that no one will bother you during the next three days.” Pierre said. “I am just telling you this for the sake of clarity, or in case you hear any commotion outside while you’re working. In any case, Leon has told me he is willing to increase your pay for these new unforeseen circumstances.”

Red shook his head. “I’m sure that is something we can discuss when I meet him again.”

Pierre nodded at that and fell silent once more. No more words were exchanged between them until they arrived at their destination.

“We’re here.” The guard said as he opened the door of the carriage.

Red followed him out and examined his surroundings. They were in a narrow street, and the carriage almost couldn’t fit through it. Both sides of the road were surrounded by layers of buildings and sky bridges that blocked almost any sunlight from reaching the ground, making them feel as if they were inside a dark and musty tunnel.

Like Pierre mentioned, this seemed to be a commerce street near the suburbs of town, with many storefronts and signs hanging about. None of these stores were open, though, and the street saw almost no foot traffic at all.

Red’s attention was then drawn to the only place he could see some sort of activity - a ruined storefront, where two guards seemed to be posted. When he tried to look further into the dark store, though, he paused in his steps.

Pierre, who seemed to notice his faltering steps, turned around and looked at him with a frown. “Is there a problem, Master Viran?”

Red shook his head, quickly recovering his composure. “It’s nothing. I just felt some lingering Demonic Energy.”

He wasn’t lying about what he felt. There were very minute traces of demonic energy inside the store - not enough to cause corruption, but still enough to stand out amidst the pure spiritual energy.

“We have cleansed the area from Demonic Energy.” Pierre said. “The only lingering energy comes from the formation, which we couldn’t take down before letting you examine it. We made sure that it wouldn’t be enough to cause harm to you, though.”

Red nodded. “It’s fine.”

In truth, the demonic energy wasn’t what surprised him. It was, instead, a strange sense of recollection when he felt that energy. Red couldn’t quite place it, but he was sure.

This wasn’t the first time he came into contact with that kind of demonic energy.