As a villain, he could do whatever he wanted.

With a slight pout, Lia suppressed the heat surging through her body and reluctantly began tidying her clothes. Meanwhile, Diana gradually came to her senses and gave Lius a complicated look.

"Hmph... He actually wants me to take care of those commoners? Does it really mean it will be of any help to me, as he says...?"

The thought only flashed through her mind for a moment before Diana gritted her teeth and shook her head.

"Damn it... Am I going crazy along with this young master? Honestly, how did he come up with such bizarre ideas? The more I think about it, the more my head aches... Forget it, Lilith's matter is the most important thing. I'll stop thinking about it for now."

With this in mind, Diana decided to put aside these complicated thoughts for the time being, and instead focused on her concern for Lilith. After tidying up her clothes, she sat down next to Lius.

Led by a horse-drawn carriage, the three slowly entered the village, and as night deepened, they began a series of investigations into the magic disease...

Chapter Seventy-Nine: A Strange Encounter in the Village (Part One)

Some time later, in a village near the foot of the mountain.

"Come, come, don't be shy, just sit down. Our village hasn't been cleaned up much, but it's enough for one night. The house over there is big enough for three people to stay together. After you're settled, go and rest for a while."

"Thank you, village chief and grandma. We've gone to so much trouble. Look at the three of us, we came out to play but got lost. Luckily, you helped us. Please accept this money."

In a village farmhouse, Lius, dressed simply, placed a silver coin into the hand of an old woman. Behind him, Lia, who had also changed into simple clothes, smiled gratefully and bowed slightly to the old woman.

"Thank you so much for the help, Grandma Village Chief. Lia and her brother were just worried about where to stay. We are so grateful to Grandma for taking us in. Come on, Aunt Diana, you should thank Grandma too."

"..."

Feeling her clothes being slightly tugged, Diana's lips twitched a few times. She bit her lip in resistance and looked down at her rough linen clothes, complaining inwardly about how uncomfortable she felt.

"Really... what is this young master Lius thinking? Why does he insist that I dress up as a commoner, saying something like 'to avoid frightening the surrounding villagers'? He has completely abandoned the dignity of being a nobleman."

Despite her complaints, under Leus's earnest gaze, Diana had no choice but to comply with his wishes, nodding reluctantly as a form of "thank you" to the old woman.

"Aunt Diana, it's not good to stay silent like this. If you want to express your gratitude, you should at least show some respect, right? What's wrong? Are you a little shy around other people because you rarely come out of the house?"

In response to Diana's somewhat perfunctory actions, Lia spoke to her in a serious tone, while the old woman stepped forward and waved her hand with a smile, displaying a kind and approachable demeanor.

"Alright, alright, we don't have that many rules in our village, there's no need to be so tense. In fact, with some people from outside the village coming over, our village is even more lively. Look, all the children have already gathered here."

Following the village elder's words, Lia and Diana looked to the side and saw a group of little girls surrounding them, and Lius standing among them, handing out candy to the children.

"Whoever shows me around will get a reward! Which child will be the first to do so?" Lius called out to the crowd.

"Me! Let me do it! Big brother, choose me!"

Amidst cheers and shouts of excitement, a group of excited children crowded around Lius, eagerly taking candy from his hands. Lius, smiling, put his arms around the children's shoulders, chatting and laughing with the girls as they guided him around the village.

"Ha, brother, you're so friendly! You've only just arrived and you're already familiar with these kids."

"Humph……"

Watching Lius's retreating figure, Lia and Diana each displayed different expressions, while the village elder happily carried their luggage into the room. On the table was a pot of pine needle tea. After pouring tea for the two people in the room, she invited Lia and Diana to sit down.

"Ha, your arrival has brought some vitality to our village. Otherwise, the children would rarely be as happy as they are now. That young master Lius is truly kind. In all my years, this is the first time I have ever seen a nobleman who is so considerate of commoners."

"Eh? Noble...Grandma, did you realize my brother's identity?" Lia blinked in surprise.

"Ha, although I am old, my eyes are still quite sharp, and I can see things more clearly than young people. Recently, a lot of big things have happened in the village. Anyone who suddenly comes to the village at this time is definitely not an ordinary person. Young Master Lius also has a noble air about him, which is hard to hide even if he tries to conceal it."

"Huh? Does your elder brother have that aristocratic air about him?" Lia blinked in confusion.

"Yes, not only him, but Miss Diana is also a noblewoman, right? Miss Leah, on the other hand, you don't seem to have that strong noble feel. The reason for that must be quite complicated."

"Well... that's because Leah was adopted by her older brother, that's why she looks like this..."

Hearing the village chief's words, Lia blushed slightly and said, while Diana impatiently clenched her arms and coldly replied:

"Now that you know our identities, let's stop with the formalities. You're quite a clever person among commoners, so I won't hide anything from you. We need to know about the recent events concerning the magic disease. If we want to learn from you, how much will it cost?"

“Ms. Diana, that’s very rude…”

Looking at Diana with a complaining gaze, Leah grumbled at her, while the village elder remained magnanimous, smiling as she stopped Leah's accusations.

"Ha, no need to worry about so much. I live alone, and a bed and a pot are enough for me. What reward do I need? If you can help us with these sudden illnesses, then we should be the ones repaying you. Why should a noble lady like you bow and scrape?"

"Humph……"

Diana didn't appreciate the village chief's teasing words. She just snorted and gestured for her to continue. Lia, on the other hand, rolled her eyes at Diana and then looked at the village chief with a serious and respectful gaze.

"Please, Grandma Village Chief, Lia wants to help her brother solve his problem. Please tell us what happened in the village."

"Alright, alright, no need to rush, let me think... I remember the area where the magic disease was first contracted was in the eastern part of the village, in a church left behind by a missionary..."

"Hmm? A missionary's church? There's one here too?"

As they listened to the old man's words, Leah and Diana's gazes gradually focused as he recounted the village's past...

------

"So, this is the church you were talking about earlier?"

"Yes, big brother, it was right here that many of the aunties got sick... The village chief also told us not to get too close to this place, for fear that we would get sick like those aunties."

Arriving at the small church near the river in the eastern part of the village, Lius put down the girls he was holding, stuffed a handful of candy into each of their hands, and then looked at the building in front of him with a thoughtful gaze.

The church is not very big, about the size of an ordinary farmhouse.

There were no overly luxurious decorations around, and the only thing that could tell it was a church was the crooked cross statue next to the entrance. It was hard to feel the sincerity in building this church, both from its appearance and its interior.

This is what puzzled Lius. Logically speaking, even though the church's reach is extremely wide, it wouldn't be worthwhile to build a church in this remote village. The story behind the church aroused Lius's curiosity.

"Has this place... been established for some time now?" Lius asked the girls beside him.

“Well…we don’t know either, but Mom said this place has existed since she was very young. Grandma also said that the church was built before she was born, so it must have been built a long time ago…” a little girl next to her said hesitantly.

"It certainly seems to have been established for a very long time, and the Magic Disease was first discovered here. Hmm... it's getting more and more mysterious."

As he pondered this, Leus looked at the little girls around him, smiled gently at them, and waved slightly.

"Alright, you little ones, go play somewhere else. I'll stay here for a little while longer, then I can't stay any longer."

"Huh? Big brother is leaving us already?" The little girls blinked, looking reluctant to part.

"Okay, okay, big brother has important things to do. He'll come back to play with you after he's done. There are lots of fun toys here. If you all behave and don't bother me, I'll give these toys to good children later."

"Toys! Really, big brother! Then we'll do as you say, big brother. And you have to keep your promise and bring us fun toys! We want big brother to play with us, hehe..."

"Okay, I promise I can do it, pinky promise."

Leus exchanged pinkies with the girls around him, rubbed their heads, and then said goodbye to them.

"We're leaving now, big brother, bye-bye!"

"Okay, be careful on the road."

After smiling and saying goodbye to the bouncy little girls, Lius put on a serious expression again, turned to look at the church surrounded by iron railings, took a deep breath, and gripped his cane in his hand.

"Okay, it's time to go in."

After calming his mind, Lius stepped into the church, pushed open the rickety door, and examined the church building hidden by dust and smoke through the dim light coming from the windows.

Inside the church hall, all was silent except for the echo of Leus's footsteps. Rows of benches were set up in the middle, with a knee-high platform in the very center, presumably for prayer and blessing.

On the stone platform behind the station, there is a statue of an angel with outstretched wings.

The statue's face was covered by a tattered cloth, obscuring its features, but through the holes in the cloth, Leus sensed a wisp of concentrated magic.

"This magic is..."

With a hint of doubt in his mind, Lius stepped forward and gently lifted the curtain, his heart immediately tightening.

"This is!"

The moment the curtain was lifted, all that was discovered was a nearly completely corroded skull placed on the head of the angel statue.

Within the eye sockets, a continuous stream of dark liquid was churning, surging like boiling magma, and flowing towards Leus...

Chapter Eighty: A Strange Encounter in the Village (Part Two)

"hiss!"

Two streams of black liquid churned within the skull's eye sockets, twisting and spreading like writhing venomous snakes.

The nearly moldy, grayish-white bone layer scattered wisps of dust, swirling with liquid and spiraling around the two long, narrow shapes, releasing waves of unfathomable hostility toward Lius.

"..."

The sun had completely set, and in the brief interval before the moonlight appeared, it was the darkest time in the village church.

Staring at the strange objects before him, Leus's heart raced. He tried his best to ignore the urge to escape from the two writhing black snakes. Saliva welled up in his dry mouth, and swallowing it made him feel as if his heart had been nourished.

"call……"

Exhaling, maintaining a suitable distance from the skull in front of him, Leus's expression turned solemn. He pointed his cane towards the black liquid, towards the almost completely eroded corner of the skull's eye, and muttered a short incantation.

"freeze."

A pale blue light flashed, the twisting stopped, and the dust was once again suspended in the air. However, instead of surging with the black water, it was frozen in mid-air along with the two constantly rubbing black objects.

The grayish-white powder stood out starkly against the black water, freezing the two black snakes, which had been baring their fangs and claws and poised to attack, in mid-air.

A transparent layer of white ice descended from the very front of the black water, freezing the entire statue within it. Even the surrounding air was filled with icy ice crystals, causing the temperature inside the church to drop slightly.

The moonlight peeked out from behind the clouds at just the right moment, shining down through the windows overhead and enveloping the entire church and village. The snow-white light rippled across the ice crystals and spread across the surface of the black liquid frozen in the air. The alternating black and white hues created a transcendent and dreamlike atmosphere within the church.

"what……"

Seemingly amused by his own thoughts, Leus shook his head with a self-deprecating smile, walked past the ice crystal sculpture in front of him, and returned to the center of the church to examine the other parts of the angel statue.

His intuition told him that the seemingly dangerous attack was just a prelude. Its true purpose was not simply to express hostility towards him, but rather to protect something else, using himself as an attraction to conceal what he truly wanted to hide.

"This black liquid is coming from this skull. It seems that someone removed the head of the statue and replaced it with this skull, which resembles some kind of runic array. Why would this be enshrined in a church?"

Leus walked around the statue on the church platform, his steps thoughtful. His gaze traveled from the black water that had attacked him to the rusty base of the statue. He leaned down and pressed his ear to the ground.

"Here, there's the sound of wind, and signs that it's been disturbed..."

Feeling the scraping sounds from the ground, Lius already had a plan for the next step.

He focused his gaze on the base of the statue, adjusted his posture, gripped the staff at his side, and his wand flashed briefly.

"Whoosh!"

In a flash of light, the closed ground was split in two.

The base, which had been struggling to hold on, was finally freed at this moment. With a crisp cracking sound, a small collapse occurred on the ground near the statue. The rusty iron base, enveloped in dust, scattered into pieces of iron on the verge of breaking, and fell heavily towards the bottom of the church like a heavy weight.

"boom!"

A heavy thud struck the base of the church, the tremendous sound causing the entire church to tremble violently.

After the smoke cleared inside the church, a hidden entrance leading to the church's underground was revealed, concealed beneath the statue.

"As expected, the churches in these small villages are full of hidden secrets. Hmm... should I go and ask the village chief first? Is it a bit inappropriate for me to go down here directly like this?"

"Since you've already destroyed the church like this, host, let's not worry about manners anymore," the system muttered, perched on Lius's shoulder.

"Well, that makes sense. System, give me a flashlight. I want to go down and see what's inside."

"There are no flashlights in the Western fantasy world... Giving you a can of night vision potion is already quite generous. One hundred points, open your mouth! This system will personally serve you, how about that? Pretty cheap, right?"

And so, as the system fed him mouth-to-mouth some dark blue potion, Leus blinked and gradually felt that everything in front of him was becoming clearer.

"Alright! Let's go."

Levi gave the system a grateful smile, gripped his sword staff tighter, took a deep breath, and began to descend, exploring the church's underground beneath...

------

"Hmm? Granny Village Chief, you mean... in ancient times, this place was once a branch of the church?"

"Yes, that's not all. This place was also the original research site for church magic. At its peak, the church was filled with people who came to pray. Underneath the church was a place for priests to study magic, and many famous believers in magic were trained here."

The old man smiled slightly and nodded, with a nostalgic expression, and took out a long peach wood cane from the wardrobe next to him, gently placing it on the table in front of Diana and Lia.

"This... could it be..."

Gazing at the long, seemingly valuable pole, Diana couldn't help but move her eyes closer, looking with slight surprise at the smooth peach wood branch on the table. Leah, suppressing her excitement, swallowed hard and exclaimed excitedly:

"Wow... Could this be the Order's wand that every branch of the Church has? I heard from Annie's mother that these wands were personally bestowed by the Goddess, and each one contains the power personally granted by the Goddess. This is the first time Leah has seen one like this, and it looks really high-class..."

"Young lady, you mean this? Ha, no, this is my clothes rack. The inside of the cabinet collapsed a bit before, so I used this to support it a little."