Outside the Enpearl Empire Prison.

"Seriously, are all the guards here this weak?"

Remiel surveyed the scene before her. Bodies lay scattered across the ground, unconscious and barely breathing. She’d only meant to push them back with a casual wave—yet the shockwave alone had sent every single one flying.

She’d used barely ten percent of her strength!

Rumors said the Empire and the Church had poured millions in gold coins into Enpearl’s infrastructure, especially defense, after recent human-demon clashes. And this was their prison security?

Pathetic.

"*Ugh...*" Belle trembled, blood trickling from her lips. She’d narrowly avoided the full force of that strike. Standing now took every ounce of her will.

*How terrifying is this woman?!*

Belle’s mind raced: *Has she discovered my identity? Why else would the Holy Maiden attack so brutally—nearly killing me on the spot?*

As a demon spy, she knew the fate awaiting exposed infiltrators. Xila’s three-day confinement in the isolation cell had been lenient—thanks to Belle’s own influence. Normally, they’d endure the Water Torture. Three days of that would break anyone.

The Empire’s constitution banned execution, but its methods were far crueler.

Studying the Holy Maiden’s expression, Belle—a seasoned interrogator well-versed in reading faces—saw only one word written plainly there: *disappointment*.

*Disappointed that I and these soldiers are so useless?*

No. The Holy Maiden’s thoughts couldn’t be that shallow.

A storm of realizations crashed over Belle. She sighed deeply, accepting her fate.

*She knows. She’s known all along.*

That’s why she’d stopped Belle from approaching the Calamity Witch. That look of disappointment meant: *"Such a diligent, brilliant interrogator... and she’s a demon spy."*

"*Hah...*" In those few seconds, Belle made peace with death.

If the Holy Maiden knew, there was no point pretending.

As a high-ranking spy personally assigned by the Demon King, she’d prepared for this moment since day one.

*"If I die, you die with me!"* Belle’s hand slipped into her pocket, gripping a magic scroll. She tore it open without hesitation.

Killing the Holy Maiden would clear the path for Xila to secure the Calamity Witch—and complete their mission.

*"My duty is done, my king!"*

She almost shouted it aloud—but before she could, Remiel stepped forward. A gentle hand landed on Belle’s shoulder.

"You refuse to fall even with such grave wounds," Remiel said with a faint smile. "No wonder both Tia and I value you. Rest now."

Holy Light washed over Belle. Pain melted away like water draining from cracks in her body. Warmth flooded her limbs.

"*Mmm... so sleepy...*" Her eyelids grew heavy. She collapsed to the ground—the spell’s side effect, no doubt.

*Wait! The scroll’s already torn! At least throw it—!*

An explosion in her pocket would be fatal!

*Damn it, playing dirty?!*

*Ugh... I’m... out...*

...............

...............

**Kebento Factory.**

This colossal complex sprawled across dozens of square kilometers. Enpearl’s largest and most vital enterprise, it exported everything from enchanted lamps to alchemical potions and magic scrolls.

Newspapers claimed one in ten Enpearl citizens worked here—twelve-hour shifts, year-round, pouring their lives into building the nation.

It birthed an economic titan. Its goods reached every corner of the world. Even the Imperial royal family commissioned custom items. Commoners bought endlessly, fueling Kebento’s—and Enpearl’s—wealth.

Thanks to this factory, Enpearl had transformed from a humble backwater into the continent’s busiest economic hub.

Even its lowest janitor stood taller, pride swelling at the mere mention of Kebento’s glory.

"Whoa... it’s huge..."

Xila stared at the monstrous structure from afar, awestruck.

Raised in demon territory, then confined to Nobles Town, she’d never seen anything so vast—not even the Demon King’s citadel compared.

The factory was a seamless steel behemoth—a windowless iron box vomiting thick black smoke from vents. The sky above hung perpetually stained.

Greenish-purple wastewater gushed from pipes along its base, flooding into rivers that carried poison to the sea.

Xia Xin froze.

Something felt... off.

A wave of dissonance hit her. She frowned, thinking hard—then it struck her.

"Hold on! Isn’t this supposed to be a *medieval* fantasy world? Since when do factories like this exist?!" she blurted.

Her history grades were terrible, but even she knew this level of industry belonged to the *Industrial Revolution*. Not the Middle Ages.

*Who designed this game? Do they even own a textbook?*

...Actually, that didn’t matter right now.

What mattered was—*Where was the Holy Maiden?!*

Xia Xin’s heart hammered against her ribs. Panic clawed up her throat.

She needed someone to pry this cursed, about-to-explode magic scroll from her hands. *Now.*

Sure, she carried the title "Calamity Witch," but her actual power barely surpassed a novice mage’s—and her frail body wouldn’t survive a direct hit from a Forbidden Spell.

*No. Absolutely not.*

She’d only been in this world a few days, but she’d already grown attached.

After all...

*Where else could you find so many adorable white-haired lolis?*

No one could resist that.jpg.