Don't disturb the sorcerer's scientific research

Chapter 222 Danger! Jia Xiu smelled a conspiracy.
"Um... let's clarify something first: do demons even have the concept of marriage?"

When Jasmine heard Margaret say that Becky had married a devil, his first question was...

Because none of the demon studies he had read mentioned that demons formed families.

Although demons also have parents and are born of demons, they do not actually have a family unit.

First of all, the demon race has a very weak concept of family affection, which is even more cruel than having no family affection at all.

Because elders with blood ties are usually the first targets that the new generation of demons will challenge after they grow up, while other peers will be eliminated during the growth process.

The entire demon race is like a giant "Xuanwu Gate".

Blood ties? What blood ties?
Let's have a real fight, and whoever survives will be the boss.

Jia Xiu suspects that the reason why the demon race has evolved such a concept is probably due to the fact that the demon race will not die unless it is killed. There is no such thing as dying of old age. Therefore, if society wants to renew itself, it can only do so by eliminating the previous generation in the most radical way.

Moreover, the structure of marriage and family is ultimately a structure created to protect and inherit private property.

The devil doesn't have that need.

That's right, powerful demons have an enormous amount of private property, but they don't consider inheritance rights.

Having a child means having another competitor, and then the competitor inherits the inheritance?

The ownership of the devil's property is not too simple. Whoever kills him last gets the property. If he is killed by a group of people, there will probably be another internal conflict.

Therefore, the demon race is actually a race whose brains are controlled by the instinct to reproduce.

Reproducing offspring is a completely negative benefit for them, and they would not do it if they had any sense at all.

Although he hadn't done any specific research, Jia Xiu boldly deduced that the degree to which demons were controlled by their instincts should vary from demon to demon.

Throughout their millennia-long history of endless battles with the demon race, various races have encountered and documented many powerful demons.

This part of history is quite interesting because of the huge differences between the demon races. Reading this kind of history feels like reading a setting book.

When Jia Xiu gets tired of doing research, he sometimes likes to look at these things.

Those demons, infamous for their heinous crimes and causing immense losses to various races, were not only recorded for their crimes, but also for their bloodline lineage.

Some of them have never had offspring.

Some offspring are few in number, but equally notorious, successfully embodying the proverb "the father is a devil and the son is a villain."

Some even killed their fathers and took their place.

There are also pure breeding "machines." For example, according to research, all demons, monsters, slimes, mimics, etc., in gel state are from the same ancestor, truly realizing the creation of several races from one demon.

Without exception, none of them had a stable spousal relationship.

Therefore, Jassi's questioning of Margaret's statement is quite reasonable and well-founded.

“Well… that’s what my mother said anyway,” Margaret replied matter-of-factly. “When this incident came to light, the nobles were shocked and immediately blocked the news. They couldn’t let more people know about the scandal of a noble girl running off with a devil, as it would damage the nobles’ reputation.”

“I think the reputation of the nobility has been damaged by just this much.”

"Tsk!"

Margaret frowned and lightly patted the back of Jassie's hand.

"You yourself are a knight appointed by the princess, so you're at least a nobleman, aren't you?"

"My reputation isn't good either."

Jia Xiu answered with even more confidence.

This left Margaret speechless.

"Let's get down to business! I'll tell you something. Apparently, Becky was already engaged to the second son of an earl, who had retired from the army near the demon border. Guess what happened?"

"This doesn't sound like a serious matter."

"Are you listening to me or not?!"

"listen."

Jia Xiu's gossip-loving nature was burning brightly; he loved listening to these messy little stories about relationships.

"On the day of the wedding, Becky ran away. At the wedding venue, within the family's territory, she was kidnapped by a devil who suddenly appeared. At first, everyone thought she was really kidnapped, but when the guards attacked, Becky stood in front of the devil instead. Do you know what the most shocking part is?"

"What is it?"

Jia Xiu felt he was currently missing a handful of melon seeds.

"The man knows that devil. His squad was attacked by that devil when he was in the military. Now, his fiancée was stolen away by the same devil at their wedding. He even watched as she threw herself into his arms!"

"Wow!"

Jia Xiu never expected that there would be such a plot involving a husband and wife.

"What happens next?"

"Later, the devil took Becky away and ran away. No one knows where they went. The two families joined forces and put a bounty on the devil to hunt him down. They also blocked the news. However, the news still spread throughout the noble family. There was no way around it, as there were quite a few people present that day."

Were you there that day?

"No, I was only ten years old then."

Jia Xiu admired the confidence of someone who, despite not being there, spoke as if they had personally experienced it.

He has a natural talent for being a con artist, but it's a "pity" that he chose the right path.

"Then how do you know that you were abducted by the devil and that the marriage was the last thing you did, and not that you had some other purpose?"

Jia Xiu still doesn't believe that the devil could marry a human.

What is the picture?

"It's because Becky later sent another letter home. In the letter, she said that she had married the devil and that the devil treated her very well, so her family shouldn't worry. Oh, right, the letter also included a magical photograph, which showed a clip from their wedding. The wedding was very grand, and the ceremony had a lot of traditional iris-themed elements. In the end, she also wished the count's son, whom she had abandoned, a happy marriage in the future."

Margaret lowered her voice, seemingly trying to keep someone from speaking in such a low voice.

"I also heard that after reading that letter, Becky's father fainted from anger, and even worse, the original man went insane and no one knows where he is now."

Jia Xiu felt that this madness was quite understandable.

It was already bad enough; her mental state was probably on the verge of collapse. It would have been better if she hadn't been hit with that, but then she received a letter.

Given the pride and importance that nobles place on their image, experiencing something like this in public would practically guarantee them a unhappy future.

Jia Xiu couldn't judge, so he offered his blessings to the "victim" without considering the implications, genuinely believing that such blessings were kind words.

They were just aiming to finish off the enemy.

If it's the latter, what kind of deep-seated grudge is that?

"I'll make a 'bold' prediction: those two companies' bounty offers are still pending, right?"

Based on what Jia Xiu had seen before, there was a demon from the deep prison standing guard beside him while he was cooking.

That's definitely the treatment only a devil's wife should receive.

The devil who kidnapped the bride at the wedding must have been extremely powerful, and he's still alive and well.

“Of course,” Margaret replied. “Actually, I think that bounty is impossible to complete before the demons are completely defeated. The demon who married Becky is a famous demon duke, Baimon.”

Jia Xiu remembered this name.

It has appeared in records.

A great demon with a male body and a female appearance, who always appears in humanoid form in the records, whose true form is unknown. He loves the art of various races, especially music, and even when he appears on the battlefield, he is always followed by a demon band.

In the demon race's hierarchy, the Demon Grand Duke is below the Demon God, roughly equivalent to the Demon King, perhaps slightly lower, but no longer at a subordinate level.

On the devil's side, there is no such thing as blessing one's descendants or bringing good fortune to future generations. A duke cannot be a duke simply because his father was a duke.

One can only rise through the ranks by doing one's own efforts.

Humans have defeated demons of this level before, but have never successfully killed one. Even when there was a way to open a dimensional portal to hell, it was impossible; now that hell is inaccessible, it's even less likely.

From this perspective, the two companies can offer any amount of reward they want, since it's all just empty promises anyway.

Jia Xiu recalled some relevant records about Bai Meng.

His record is not bad; he has never lost a battle. Of course, part of the reason is that this Baimon has never fought against the top combat forces of the Allied Forces.

The battlefields where it appeared had a somewhat "noob-stomping" element.

It's easy to see from its fondness for bringing military bands to the battlefield that it likes to put on a show.

You definitely can't fight an opponent you're not confident against.

So the record might be inflated, but not by much.

Judging from its record of easily defeating weaker opponents, it really goes all out. Its potential is hard to predict, but its minimum performance is very consistent. Being able to consistently and efficiently defeat weaker opponents is a skill in itself.

"Bymon, why would a ruthless character from the devil's side take a fancy to a noblewoman?"

Jia Xiu was puzzled.

"Well, what I'm saying may not be true, but that's what everyone's saying, so just take it as a rumor."

Margaret gave her a heads-up first.

"It is said that Becky's family had a feud with Baimon, and may have hurt Baimon. As a result, Baimon held a grudge and used dream entry to create nightmares to frighten the family for generations."

Jia Xiu felt that this statement was already somewhat untrue.

How bored must a devilish grand duke be to personally scare people in nightmares?

Eh, that's not right.

Hard to say.

Living too long can be really boring.

It seems not impossible; the demon race cannot be understood in a normal way.

"Then when Becky was frightened, she was not afraid at all, and even communicated with Baimon in her dream. This made Baimon very curious, so he started to communicate with her. Such communication became more and more frequent, and finally Baimon fell in love with Becky and decided to risk coming to the human world to take his lover away directly, free from worldly troubles."

This statement gave Jia Xiu a headache. What was this about "a thousand-year-old demon falling in love with me, the descendant of his enemy"?

"Are you sure this isn't a scene from some melodramatic novel?"

What is a melodramatic novel?

"It's a novel with clichéd plots, exaggerated storylines, and then everything turns into romance."

"What does this have to do with dog blood?"

"Good question, I just said it offhand."

Actually, Jia Xiu didn't know why "dog blood" had this meaning.

"In short, the core theme of this outrageous story is just one thing: they got married because..."

"Because of love."

Margaret continued with the second half of the sentence.

Jia Xiu slapped his forehead.

He now felt that the most outrageous thing in that manor was no longer the Unity Society, which was trying to unite humans and demons.

This is far more outrageous than the Unity Society, directly blatantly disregarding racial differences and associating with the devil.

Excluding other possible reasons, it's unlikely he was after money; the Devil Prince is far richer.

It's impossible that she was attracted to beauty; everyone in the succubus community, regardless of gender, is more attractive than Becky.

It's even less likely that Becky has some special bloodline that would allow for some kind of mysterious sacrifice, since she's been alive and well for the past ten years or so.

That can only be love.

"A love-struck noblewoman and a deeply affectionate devil."

It's one thing for humanoid races to have interracial love, but at least the differences between them aren't that great.

And the devil, the devil's true form looks like it has reproductive isolation from humans.

Humans interact with other animals...

Thinking of this, Jia Xiu suddenly recalled the incredible short video he regretted clicking on.

It seems that humans can actually interact with animals...

Then a new problem arises.

What is a former human noblewoman, now the devil's grand duchess, doing working as a cook at a manor outside Goward?

Are they here to offer their love and care?
Or it could be that they agree with the principles of the Solidarity Society.

Jia Xiu felt it wasn't impossible. Someone who had married the devil must have longed for peace between humans and demons, otherwise they would surely end up as a "traitor to humans."

So what if she, Baimon behind her, and the strange group she's currently in are involved in some more secretive plan?

Beneath the chaos of Goward lies an even bigger problem.

After all, this place is near the border of the Iris Flower Country.

If that's the case, then Becky is the key to breaking through the mission.

Task progress +1%

【Current Progress 1/100】

The appearance of the prompt confirmed Jia Xiu's idea.

Why is Becky's background only worth 1%? How many more secrets are there in the manor?

Jia Xiu scratched his head, pondering what to do next.

To get close to Becky, you definitely need to become more familiar with her first; simply interviewing reporters won't be enough.

And we also need to find a legitimate, or at least seemingly legitimate, reason to conduct experiments on the humanoid demons in the manor to further verify the reliability of the plan.

“Mentor,” Jia Xiu said, “we’ll make another trip to that manor tomorrow, and then we’ll do this…”

The next day.

The latest large estate of the Solidarity Society.

A new round of real-world testing of human-demon cohabitation is about to begin, and there are more people in the manor than yesterday.

In the very center, on a simple two-story building.

Paula, one of the leaders of the Unity Society and the person in charge of this event at the manor, is here, and sitting opposite her is Jasmine.

"You mean you want to give the people on our estate medical checkups and provide free treatment?"

Paula found it strange that Matthew, the journalist, had come to her early this morning claiming he wanted to do something.

“Yes,” Jassi nodded in reply, “because I discovered yesterday that some people in the manor are not in good health, or rather, the health of the entire Goward is not good. I agree with your company’s philosophy, so I want to do my part beyond reporting.”

Jia Xiu said very sincerely.

"But aren't you a journalist?"

"So what if I'm a reporter? Reporters have studied magic too. You can learn magic everywhere in Larvin, and the one I'm best at is healing magic. I can definitely cure any illness that healing magic can work on. Believe me, I have an understanding of healing magic as deep as the ocean!"

This last sentence is the most genuine one in Jia Xiu's entire speech...

(End of this chapter)