Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted-Chapter 52: The Dark Side of the Theater

"Master Mentor..."
Loren raised his hand, signaling Simone to shut up. He didn't want to have much communication with her.
"I only came here for two things. Did you send this girl?"
Simone nodded. She had guessed that her recent actions had increasingly angered Loren; otherwise, Loren wouldn't have brought the girl to find her.
She had bet wrong. Loren wasn't into that sort of thing. But facing Loren's questioning, she could only admit it. Since Loren had come to find her, it meant Loren knew the truth. Continuing to lie would only make Loren angrier.
Without decisive evidence, Simone could have denied it, but she knew Loren didn't need evidence.
Simone had also heard about how Loren handled Sylvia. It was precisely after hearing about that incident that her fear reached its peak, forcing her to resort to this desperate measure to try and quell Loren's anger. So, she also gave up on the idea of shirking responsibility.
"Good. Now for the second matter."
Loren suddenly took out a syringe and, catching Simone completely off guard, threw it like a throwing knife. It pierced Simone's body, and the virus inside was instantly injected.
"Now everything's fine. I'll take this child home first. Remember this, I won't let you off."
Their exchange ended in less than a minute. Only after Loren left did Simone pull out the syringe. Although the needle hadn't penetrated her fat layer, this was, after all, the power of the God of Plague.
Simone had no idea what this was. The unknown was the most terrifying.
What he had just injected into Simone was the pathogen Loren obtained yesterday from the Plague Believer. It was a sexually transmitted disease that Loren had carefully selected. Those infected wouldn't die, but they would suffer greatly, and it had an extremely high transmission rate.
However, it only spread through sexual transmission, making it quite safe. The only ones who could lay a hand on Simone were likely those "ducks" whose moral bottom line had fallen through the floor—the lowest of the low kind. Anyone with a choice would never take Simone's job.
And those who could be infected by such "ducks" were certainly not good people either. In a sense, this virus could actually make society a better place.
Perhaps later, Simone might claim that Loren injected her with a virus, but no one would believe her. Loren's loyalty to the God of Bountiful Harvest was known to all. How could he possibly possess something from the God of Plague, specifically to use against a minor figure like Simone?
On the way back, Loren kept eavesdropping on the conversations of passersby. The hottest topic right now was the Blackened. Originally, the kingdom had intended to suppress this matter, but now it was impossible to keep a lid on it, especially after yesterday when even the royal family was chased off by the Blackened. Under Loren's guidance, the matter of the Blackened was now common knowledge.
However, in the mouths of these ordinary people, the Blackened were still the righteous side. The gods bestowing their power upon the weak to help them fight against injustice—it sounded just like a fairy tale.
Probably before long, those in power would ramp up their efforts to control public opinion. That would happen after the royal family confirmed it was safe and came running back.
After sending the girl home, Loren took the opportunity to teach her a few principles, at least letting her know what she could and couldn't do, so she wouldn't be brainwashed by someone like Simone. However, Loren didn't say too much either. The sky was already darkening, and Loren needed to hurry to the theater.
Today, Loren unusually took off the hood of his black robe. The guards in the Royal Capital had become somewhat sensitive recently; anyone wearing a black robe had to be questioned. Although it was unlikely to achieve much—there were plenty of people wearing black robes; basically, any wild mage not under the Church's jurisdiction dressed like that.
Upon reaching the theater entrance, Loren spotted Naclis and the others from a distance. Naclis was waving at him.
This was the largest theater in the Gedlan Kingdom, and also the most high-end. Most crucially, it had electric lights imported from the territory of the God of Night and Thunder. In the Gedlan Kingdom, which worshipped the God of Bountiful Harvest, electric lights were a rare sight. Even disregarding their practicality, these foreign imports exuded a sense of luxury. Nobles and wealthy people loved coming here, even if they couldn't understand the performances.
Consequently, people in this area held a completely opposite attitude towards the Blackened. Ordinary people saw the Blackened as a fairy tale; they saw them as a horror story. After all, they were used to looking down on others from their lofty positions. They were also well aware they had offended many people. Who knew when someone might suddenly become a Blackened and seek revenge?
"I've already bought the tickets. We can go straight in."
Mirrorheart had arranged everything in advance. As a maid, she was truly perfect.
"Mhm."
What had happened earlier hadn't affected Loren's mood. To put it bluntly, Loren had never taken Simone seriously. Loren didn't take anything other than gods seriously. Even gods—with sufficient preparation, Loren had absolute confidence in his ability to kill them.
Everyone entered the theater and arrived at their pre-selected seats. Discovering her seat was next to Loren's, Naclis felt a bit nervous. Anna, however, was much calmer. She directly pushed aside Scarlett, who was originally sitting on Loren's other side.
Perhaps due to ecological niche conflict, Anna and Scarlett had a bit of a love-hate relationship. It's just that in their daily squabbles, Anna always managed to gain the upper hand.
Although Scarlett was quite a bit older than Anna, Anna was far more confident than Scarlett.
"Quiet down."
Loren interrupted Anna and Scarlett, who were roughhousing. Seeing the familiar stage lights, Loren felt as if a lifetime had passed.
Since arriving in this world, Loren hadn't left the country. This was the first time he had seen electric lights here.
The musical was still primarily a love story. Originally, Loren had considered plagiarizing some stage plays like "Fox Spirit Matchmaker" or similar to give the people here a bit of a shock. However, the people here were relatively conservative and not very receptive to such things. In the end, Loren only plagiarized some classic stories.
If you wanted to write about human-demon romance, you'd have to go to the territory of the God of Plague, provided you replaced the "demon" with actual animals.
Even so, Naclis was watching quite engrossed. Although Loren found it boring, he planned to stay with the children until the end.
The male and female leads on stage had finally overcome numerous difficulties and were about to be together. Sobs began to sound from the audience seats. Naclis stared intently at the stage, while Anna didn't seem very interested and started yawning. Upon noticing Loren looking at her, she made a blowing-a-kiss gesture.
And it was precisely at the most critical moment of the musical that a figure suddenly descended from above. The dagger in their hand struck the female lead squarely in the chest, and blood immediately began to spread.
"It's all your fault! You stole my role! You ruined my dream!"
It was a woman, her expression already twisted. Under the illumination of the lights, the black aura emanating from her body was very obvious.
Seeing this, the male lead was so frightened he collapsed on the spot, scrambling frantically to crawl away from the area.
Loren was certain this scene wasn't in the script he wrote. The identity of this woman before him was also quite clear: a Blackened. However, the physical mutations on her body weren't extensive, indicating her hatred wasn't deep enough, and the power she obtained wasn't much either.
"It's a Blackened!"
Someone shouted—who knows who—and the theater instantly descended into chaos. Everyone desperately squeezed towards the exits, not caring if people were being trampled under their feet.