"What brilliant insight do you have, then?"

Koranda humbly inquired for Loren's opinion, though Loren truly didn't have any masterstroke plan.

"You go investigate first, focusing on the Greed Worshippers. I know there are still quite a few Greed Worshippers in the Royal Capital. Don't hold back or hide anything at a time like this.

"I'll be responsible for researching a method to block the sacrificial ritual. That strange gray fog is ninety-nine percent likely to be a sacrificial ritual of the God of Greed."

"What about the other one percent probability?"

"It's someone setting off fireworks in the middle of the night, alright? So many unnecessary questions."

"Why do you trust the Witches so much, believing the perpetrator absolutely cannot be a Witch?"

Loren heard her true meaning from Koranda's words. She was trying to pin a label on Loren, subtly implying Loren was colluding with Witches.

She just didn't dare say it outright. Slandering others like this was one thing, but daring to slander Loren was seeking death.

"Are you the Master Mentor, or am I? Right now, I suspect *you* are a Witch. Don't worry, I have ten thousand ways to make you admit you're a Witch."

Having spoken to this point, Koranda knew it was time for her to leave. Loren wasn't bluffing; he truly could do it.

"Then I won't disturb you any further, Master Mentor. Goodnight..."

Koranda exited Loren's home and left the area with her subordinates.

"Bishop, what do you think of Master Ment... of Loren?"

Only after leaving did Koranda's subordinates begin to speak. It was the first time they had seen Koranda look so aggrieved.

"Loren truly has skill. Just from hearing the description, he could guess the perpetrator was a Greed Worshipper. Even though I repeatedly tried to steer him, he didn't change his own mind. This means he wasn't guessing; he truly knows these things."

The subordinates thought they would hear Koranda cursing Loren behind his back, but instead, she actually affirmed Loren's ability.

"Did you know from the beginning this was the work of Greed Worshippers?"

"Just had some suspicions. But now I'm even more certain. Loren is indeed worth cooperating with. No wonder he holds such a high position."

...

"Master Mentor, you defended the Witches so strongly in front of the Bishop... is that really alright..."

After Koranda left, Naclis inquired, feeling somewhat guilty.

"Actually, I don't think you needed to go that far. The image of Witches is almost impossible to salvage. Taking risks for that isn't worth it..."

"I think what Naclis said is right."

Laila also expressed her agreement with Naclis's view. They had both heard and taken to heart what Loren said just now.

Loren had even gone this far for them.

A Shielding Spell was permanently active at home. Even if they directly discussed Witches, no one would discover it, not even the several Maids. This was Loren's confidence in daring to hire Maids.

"It doesn't matter. Given my status, daring to suspect I'm connected to Witches is a capital offense. You'd sooner suspect the Pope than suspect me. And I genuinely can't stand them pinning everything on Witches.

"That's just my personality. I do what I like and don't consider benefits."

If someone badmouths Loren twice, Loren dares to kill their whole family. In this life, Loren doesn't want to suffer the slightest grievance.

Loren especially dislikes being falsely accused. Back in the orphanage, someone once falsely accused Loren of molesting her. In the end, Loren broke one of her arms and was also expelled from the orphanage.

So Loren also doesn't want his children to bear so much infamy. That's why, when Koranda repeatedly tried to shift the blame onto the Witches, Loren's attitude towards her became so hostile.

"Alright, it's getting late. You all go to sleep first. I'm going to research a method to stop the ritual from proceeding."

As Loren left, Luna kept watching his retreating back. Loren's words just now kept swirling in her mind.

She was very glad she had never exposed her identity as a Witch while growing up, but she also felt sorrowful because of it. Luna originally thought she would have to hide herself for a lifetime, leaving home when others noticed her unchanging appearance, not burdening her parents.

Even if her parents didn't expose her, their future interactions would change.

Until Loren appeared. Luna completely didn't need to consider these things anymore. Her unchanging youthful appearance could be fully explained as Loren having given her a youth-preserving Magical Potion to drink. Even if she truly used her Arcane Ability in front of others, she could completely say it was equipment Loren made.

Moreover, Loren could even accept Luna's identity as a Witch, giving her a place where she didn't need to hide her true self, a harbor for her soul.

Luna lowered her head, looking at her own body. She had been thinking about how she could repay Loren. Then she remembered Jessica's words and shamefully covered her face with her hands.

...

That ritual capable of sacrificing half a city was indeed worth being vigilant about. Loren did know of rituals with a larger scope than this one, but he wasn't familiar with this particular ritual. He could, however, infer other things from one instance.

Blocking a ritual wasn't complicated. The Deathly Silence (silencing) effect of Requiem could block a ritual's progression, but the prerequisite was finding the ritual's performer.

Entering the laboratory, Loren first picked up the teleportation stone on the table. The teleportation stone was already completed. Next, he just needed to wait for the teleportation anchor point to record the coordinates.

It's just that Loren was now caught up in a new incident, making it not very convenient to go to the Eternal Dark Abyss.

It's just that the Perpetual Observer had long since become taboo. Even Loren couldn't mention it lightly.

So Loren could only settle for the next best thing, utilizing the God of Bountiful Harvest's power to counter the Outer God.

But specifically how to do it required further investigation, so Loren could conduct targeted research.

Loren wasn't fully relying on Koranda either. He had already sent Gwen to investigate. What's more, Movila was constantly monitoring this place from the sky.

After some attempts, Loren wrote many runes on a piece of paper. He didn't plan to try too hard anyway, since he had other methods. This was just to deal with the Church.

As soon as he opened the door, Loren saw a rare guest in his room. Luna was sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing the pajamas Mirrorheart had given her.

She was sitting upright and proper, her eyes fixed on the floor. Hearing the door open, she was clearly startled.

"Good evening... Master Mentor..."