The Chailros family brought Loren some good news: they had discovered that people's cognition interference was related to the Outer Gods, and they had narrowed down the range.

Casper also had a new lead. He had captured other Outer God cultists, but this time, before he could bring the cultists to Loren, the cultists killed themselves.

Still, Casper did gain something; he learned the approximate area involved.

Finally, Loren's own plan was exposed, but only one of his plans had been uncovered, so Loren was able to lock down another area.

Loren drew three circles; each circle represented one of those ranges, and there was only one family at the intersection of all three circles.

"Finally I caught them..."

The moment he discovered that, Loren sent Gwen to that family—a family that truly had ties to the Outer Gods. The household probably wouldn't actually keep anything explicitly linked to the Outer Gods; that would only bring disaster.

Gwen's method of gathering information was so bizarre that ordinary people had no defense. No matter how deeply they hid things, if they really had connections to the Outer Gods, they could not escape Gwen's investigation.

True Sight Eye made every method of concealment ineffective, the High Tower card let Gwen probe everywhere, the Hermit card kept Gwen from being discovered, and the World Card gave Gwen unmatched mobility.

Gwen tailed a noble who, disguised in the middle of the night, pretended to be a frightened departure. The noble went to the inn to meet a man in a black robe.

From that man's mouth, Loren heard a familiar name: Koranda, the one who had taken the Justice Card and tried to slander the witches.

"Loren must die! He killed Koranda!"

"All right, all right, I know you hate him. Stop shouting. Do you have any plan after this? We've already come so far—one wrong step and it's the abyss..."

The noble, dressed as a servant, wore a sorrowful expression, the suffering of recent times known only to him.

"I feel like everything of mine is being calculated. No matter how meticulous my plans are, they get seen through... I really regret working with you..."

Hearing that, the man let out a cold laugh:

"You weren't like this before. When I said killing Loren would extract his knowledge, you were even more insane than I was."

"Everyone knows those things only Loren knows. Even if I obtain that knowledge, I won't be able to use it. If it shows up, won't it prove that I was the one who killed Loren?"

"Unlike Loren, you are willing to sell your knowledge. To people, what will matter then—the dead Loren or the living, tangible profit?"

"At worst you set a low price, and others will selectively forget Loren."

A twisted smile never left the man's face; it seemed Loren's death was a foregone conclusion to him.

"What about Loren's children? They've followed Loren for so long. I don't believe their methods are any less extreme than yours.

"Just obtaining the power of the God of Hatred has brought you to this point. If Loren dies, his children will be even more wildly crazed than you..."

"Just obtaining the power of the God of Hatred has brought you to this point. If Loren dies, his children will be even more crazed than you..."

"That's simple. How has Loren always dealt with his enemies?"

"Kill the whole family?"

"Congratulations, you got it right."

The man snapped his fingers. The next moment, his smile froze as a terror of death instantly descended on him. He reacted as if startled, flipping the table and huddling in the corner, watching his surroundings warily, but he didn't see the knife Gwen had planted at his throat.

"Hahaha..."

Seeing the man's reaction, the noble laughed:

"Aren't you more afraid of Loren than I am? We're only talking about him and you get into a panic..."

The noble wanted to continue mocking, but when he saw the man's eyes he immediately shut his mouth.

"Loren has always done that—talking about mercy with his mouth, and even without him saying it, those who want to kiss his boots will carry out his orders with extra zeal."

The man sat back down, pretending nothing had happened, and resumed his chatter:

"Wasn't Koranda like that? Loren said he would spare her family, but her family was still wiped out. The great nobles led by the Chailros family... the Church... I will settle scores with them one by one..."

At that point the man's expression twisted further and he suddenly laughed outrageously:

"Hahaha... what a pity. They still didn't finish the job. When they tried to kill Koranda's lover, they killed so many passersby, but somehow missed my real lover. Their stupidity will cost them!" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"......"

The noble sensed something but dared not speak, instead flattering the man.

"So it was a green-haired wretch."

Admittedly, making an enraged Loren laugh was a real talent.

"So what will you do next?"

"I need you to tamper with the batch of Clarity Potions you're responsible for, and if possible, sabotage the potions other nobles oversee so they become ineffective. Then I'll continue spreading rumors to breed hatred.

"Do you remember what happened in the Gedlan Kingdom? This time I won't just subtly affect their cognition; I'll make them blacken outright.

"When chaos comes, I'll seize the moment to strike at Loren directly.

"Maybe he hid a lot, but without the Church's protection, he is no match for the blessing of the God of Hatred!"

"If we fail, my entire family will be destroyed."

Hearing the man's plan, the noble looked worried.

"But if we succeed, your family will surpass the Chailros family, and my revenge will continue. You could even use this to swallow the Chailros family."

Greed began to affect the noble's mind. Loren detected a clue: the man didn't only wield the God of Hatred's power; he also possessed the God of Greed's power.

"During this period I'll control more of the Clarity Potion production lines as much as possible. It's a loss-making business. Except for the Chailros family who are desperate to please Loren, other families will cede their lines to me.

"In seven days, I'll tamper with the potions. Move quickly—every second of delay risks Loren killing my whole family."

"Of course."

The man flashed a smile.

...

After exchanging plans, the noble left without a trace.

He thought his plot airtight. Not long after he returned to his family, someone came to visit.

The noble was reveling in the joy of soon supplanting the Chailros family and didn't pay much attention, so he sent a servant to open the door.

When the servant opened the door his face carried the same pride as his master, but when he came back he was crawling and rolling on the ground.

"Who came to make you so frantic?"

"The Pope... Headmaster Casper... William Chailros...

"They're here with the Master Mentor!"