The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　Lord Montilfali quickly outlined the current situation of the Free City.

　Dak and the others finally understood why the East Gate had been sealed off.

　While everyone was deep in thought, Lord Montilfali clapped her hands lightly, and the servants waiting outside pushed the cart in, placing the food from the cart onto the table one by one.

　The food selection was limited, mostly meat dishes, accompanied by bread, vegetable soup, and lemon tea, a specialty of the Free City, which made up lunch at the city lord's mansion.

　Lord Montilfali composed herself and said with a smile, "Try it. These are all edible meats carefully selected from magical beasts. To process this meat, we specially rented some priests skilled in purification magic from the Holy Church to ensure that any residual demonic energy in the meat is completely removed. Speaking of which, the cooking method of softening and refining the meat was invented by Aurora. It is now being used on a large scale in the Free City."

　"Monster meat?"

　Turning monsters into food, changing identities, and transforming prey into hunters is indeed a good method.

　I wonder what this monster meat tastes like?

　It was past noon, and while those present couldn't be said to be starving, most were, and so they stopped being reserved and picked up their knives and forks to cut and eat the meat.

　"Since it's a cooking method invented by Aurora, it shouldn't taste bad, right?"

　Thinking this, Dak picked up his knife and fork, took a large piece of meat from the plate in front of him, cut off a small slice, dipped it in the sauce, carefully put it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly.

　"Hmm... the texture is somewhat similar to beef, and the taste is acceptable. The sauce is particularly good."

　While he was slowly chewing his food, Professor Jones had already eaten almost half a plate.

　Speaking of which, there are three giant hybrids at this table.

　Professor Jones and Lady Montilfarie, just by looking at their broad minds, one can tell they are incredibly knowledgeable.

　Aurora usually keeps a low profile, but Dak, having spent so much time with her, naturally knows that she is a hidden glutton.

　The city lord's chefs were clearly well-prepared, serving plate after plate of various kinds of monster meat to the table, and quickly removing empty plates with great efficiency.

　Fifteen minutes later, the pace of serving food slowed down. Dak took a sip of lemon tea to cleanse his palate, and then casually asked, "Aunt Montilfali, have you found out what kind of demon it is?"

　Lord Montilfali temporarily put down her knife and fork, picked up a napkin to wipe her mouth, and then slowly said, "Currently, there are at least three."

　"Three kinds?" Dark was somewhat surprised.

　Lord Montilfali glanced at Aurora beside him and said, "One type is the 'Illusion Demon,' skilled in mental magic, capable of simulating physical appearance with illusions. However, its essence remains unchanged; anyone with higher mental strength can see through it."

　"The other type is the 'Amiro Worm.' This type of insect-like demon likes to burrow into living beings, devouring them from the inside out, leaving only a skin. The 'Amiro Worm' can wear the skin and disguise itself. Because it devours from the inside out, it can even mimic their aura. However, beneath its skin is still a worm's body; simply making a small opening in the skin is enough to expose it."

　"The third type is the 'Shapeshifter,' the most difficult to detect of these three types of demons. It is a physical shapeshifter, completely undetectable from within its flesh and skin. It can only be detected through differences in speech and behavior, making it extremely difficult to discern."

　……

　“The Phantom Demon, the Amiro Worm, and the Shapeshifter Demon.” Professor Sylph paused for a moment before continuing, “During the war, these three types of demons should have been prime targets and should have been extinct. The Shapeshifter Demon’s weakness is that it cannot use its abilities temporarily after transforming. The Phantom Demon’s illusionary form does not match its physical outline, causing clipping during vigorous movement. The Amiro Worm is afraid of salt; it cannot eat food with too much salt. However, none of these three types of demons can access brain memories, and their behavior often reveals flaws. Are there any others?”

　“Professor Sylph is somewhat reliable,” Dark thought to himself.

　Lord Montilfali said in a deep voice, "Yes. But the number discovered so far is extremely small..."

　Dark frowned slightly. Unlike his previous tone, Lord Montilfali's confidence was clearly lacking when he said those words.

　A thought flashed through his mind, and he hesitated before asking, "The 'Brain Eater'?"

　Lord Montilfali looked at him with surprise and said, "We've found one before."

　The so-called "brain-eating demons," as the name suggests, are a race of demons that live by eating brains. They consume brains, hollow out the skull, and reside inside the brain, acquiring its memories and mimicking the original body flawlessly.

　Compared to that, the "brain fluid demon," a parasitic and lurking type, is practically the best of the parasitic demons.

　There's only one way to discover the "brain-eating demon": X-ray vision!

　By examining the skull and brain tissue, one can discover the "brain-eating monster."

　It sounds simple, but people with the ability to see through things are extremely rare.

　Moreover, the "brain-eating demon" will stay there after consuming the brain, which is not very noticeable with ordinary X-ray vision.

　Under these circumstances, the "one" that Lord Montilfali mentioned probably really only means that one has been found, while countless others have not been found!

　……

　With demons lurking within and hordes of monsters lurking outside, the Free City was truly a furnace.

　If the city's residents are unaware of the details, they can maintain order. However, once they learn that a monster called the "Brain Eater" may be lurking among the crowd, it will inevitably cause widespread panic.

　In order to avoid suspicion, the Free City could not even be completely locked down.

　To this day, only the east gate is sealed off; the south, west, and north gates are simply guarded by checkpoints.

　But you can't actually find anything just by relying on those checkpoints.

　In recent days, all the high-ranking officials in the city who know the details have been under immense pressure, feeling as if they are walking in a quagmire and unable to move forward.

　"Of course, we didn't just sit idly by. Ever since we discovered the demon infiltration, we've been secretly searching for capable individuals. Some time ago, we even found a mage who possessed clairvoyance magic; it was with her help that we discovered the 'Cerebrolyst Demon.'"

　"Lord Montilfali said slowly."

　"But one person's strength is limited. Relying solely on that mage is simply not enough to screen everyone in the entire city. Besides, we are the City of Freedom..."

　The city of freedom—since it is named after freedom, people who come here naturally do not like to be bound by human constraints.

　The Free City was built on this foundation, and naturally it must also bear the consequences and backlash that come with it.

　The city of freedom is now a mixed bag, with many people having criminal records who are unlikely to cooperate fully with investigations.

　It is simply impossible to gather everyone together and screen them one by one, as Professors Dark and Cazell did within the academy.

　……

　Dark couldn't help but ask, "Since these demons are so troublesome, how were they prevented and captured during wartime?"

　Lord Montilfali said, "The mobilization capacity during wartime is incomparable to what we have today. Moreover, back then, we had some experts in dealing with such crises."

　As she spoke, she slightly raised her head to look at Ophelia and said, "For example, the Blood Clan can easily detect 'Phantoms' and 'Amiro Worms' hidden among the crowd."

　Ophelia was rinsing her mouth with tea when she was spoken to, and she only glanced at her.

　Lord Montilfali was not an academic, but as a renowned hero in the past, the two naturally knew each other.

　Lord Montilfali was unaware of what had happened to Ophelia, only believing that she had disappeared and died in the original incident. Seeing her suddenly reappear now only brought him joy and surprise.

　As for the curiosity that arose from this... she certainly wouldn't ask on the spot; she could ask Aurora after the meeting.

　She continued, "As for the 'Amiro Worms,' there's a type of bird-man among the orcs who are extremely sensitive to their scent; no orc within a hundred miles can escape their grasp. Also, some bird-men, though also orcs, possess the innate ability to see through objects. There's also a sub-human race that doesn't need eyes to see; they can construct visual models in their minds through mental perception, easily detecting 'Brain Eaters.' But this is no longer a time of war. The Hundred Races Alliance has entered its later stages, and only a non-aggression pact remains. We've been trying our best to find hybrids with that orcish bloodline, and while we've made some progress, it's still far from enough."

　In short, the Free City has indeed taken many measures.

　If we can get through this most difficult period, there will be a time when we can overcome the crisis and regain stability.

　But this period is the most difficult to endure!

　Just the other day, Montilfaly was secretly relieved that she had sent Aurora away in time, never expecting that Aurora would return so soon...

　Thank goodness, she brought the professors from St. Mary's College with her!

　During the period of rapid development in magical technology, the professors at St. Marian Academy always managed to come up with methods that the professors did not possess.

　……

　Professor Sylph said, "In short, we have a general understanding of the situation. We will help with this. However, we have other important matters to attend to and need time to arrange them."

　Without Lord Montilfali even having to ask, Professor Sylph had already taken on the responsibility.

　Lord Montilfali was overjoyed and immediately said, "I've already had someone prepare the documents, and they'll be delivered to you around one o'clock. For now, you can stay at the Lord's mansion!"

　“No problem,” Professor Sylph said.

　Montilfali glanced at the meat on her plate, then at everyone present, and said, "So... shall we continue eating?"

　……

　The lunch lasted until after 1 p.m., when the documents that Lord Montilfali had compiled were delivered directly to the table.

　Professor Sylph was very decisive and distributed the materials right there at the dining table.

　Whether the professors cared or not, they all picked up the materials and started reading.

　Dak and Aurora stood close together, observing closely and exchanging words with her.

　The document details events related to the demon race that began in June of last year.

　This naturally involves a large number of personal names and place names.

　Lord Montilfali specifically asked Tiger to find some people to answer the professors' questions, while Dark directly asked Aurora and quickly gained a clear understanding of the whole situation.

　In summary, the incident that occurred in the City of Freedom is an expanded version of the "Brain Fluid Demon" incident within the academy.

　With the help of "Magic Beast: Goddess of the Mind's Eye", it is very easy to pick out the demons, including "Brain Eater" and "Shapeshifter", from the crowd.

　In fact, while the "Brain Eater" is more threatening than the "Brain Fluid Eater," it is less stealthy.

　If a "Brain Eater" were standing in front of you, "Fantasy Beast: Goddess of the Mind" could spot it with just one glance.

　However, the current situation is not so simple.

　Because Dark and the others actually knew why these demons, who should have been extinct, had reappeared.

　Since so many special demon races have already appeared, how could there not be "brain fluid demons"?

　"It should exist, but it just hasn't been discovered yet."

　It's almost certain that Dac is right.

　He discussed the matter in hushed tones with Aurora, and to their great regret, they discovered that among the thirteen people from the academy, he was the only one most suitable to handle the situation.

　It wasn't that he didn't want to help, but if he did, his journey of observing the drama would be tied to this city!

　He thought for a moment, then decided not to show his emotions in front of Aurora. Instead, he said, "Don't worry, I'm here."

　……

　After spending two hours learning the details, they did not make any arrangements directly in the conference room.

　Lord Montilfari left midway, while the half-tiger Tiger was left behind.

　Around three o'clock, Dak and the others packed up their documents and, led by Tiger, went to their guest rooms to rest for a while.

　Then at 3:30, they gathered in Professor Sylph's guest room to begin an internal meeting.

　Professor Sylph set up a protective barrier and began, "As you all know, the situation seems stable at the moment. However, based on my observations, the demonic infiltration is actually quite severe, and we cannot delay in dealing with it. We need to split into two groups: one group will stay here to deal with the demons within the city, while the other group will continue searching for Number Two. Only by finding and capturing Number Two can we eradicate the problem!"

　"agree."

　"I think so."

　"can."

　……

　Professor Sylph said, "Very good. Since there are no questions, let's start assigning tasks now."

Chapter 762

　At this point, Professor Sylph suddenly changed the subject, saying, "Of course, before that, we need to confirm the location of Number Two."

　In fact, they should have located the Demon King the moment they entered the city. But they hadn't had the chance along the way, and it had been delayed until now.

　In any case, finding the Demon King and capturing or sealing him away is the primary solution to the problem.

　Don't let the small lose the big.

　"The 'Phantom Demon,' the 'Amiro Worm,' the 'Shape-shifting Demon,' the 'Brain-eating Demon'... these demon races that should have been extinct have reappeared, undoubtedly the work of the Demon King."

　"If we cannot capture the Demon King, similar special demons will continue to emerge."

　"But this also means that the location of number two should not be far from here."

　“Witt”.

　……

　Witt Gold stepped forward, knowing it was time for his human radar to come in handy.

　Even knowing the necessity of doing so, he still couldn't adapt. After all, no one wants to see their body manipulated like a puppet.

　Unlike the previous times, he now felt a strong sense of responsibility after learning about the crisis facing the City of Freedom.

　"Thinking about it carefully, maybe being a human radar isn't so bad... At least I'd still be useful, wouldn't I?"

　He thought sadly, feeling his feet grow even heavier—it was definitely not because of the "gravity boots".

　As always, the professors quickly spread out in a circle, surrounding him.