After the Fall of the Demon Race, Reincarnated as a Demon Girl - Chapter 31

Night stretched like an endless piece of black silk, silently enveloping the entire world. In the distant sky, stars shimmered with a faint, cold light, and all around was a dead silence.

The Brand University Library stood quietly in the deep of night. Its heavy, antique-style metal door was not tightly shut, and from behind it seeped a dim, yellowish glow.

At that moment, a man in a white robe, wearing a gold-rimmed monocle, hurried into the library with hurried, somewhat irritated steps.

Even though it was already midnight, the lights at the front desk were still stubbornly on. Demihov was comfortably reclining in a rocking chair, his shoeless feet brazenly propped up on the table. His silhouette, cast by the light, appeared lazy and indistinct.

The white-robed man strode quickly to the front desk, his face full of anger. Standing directly opposite Demihov, he viciously raised his middle finger toward the depths of the library and cursed loudly:

“Damn that old fool! He’s probably smoked too much Heaven’s Leaf and lost his mind! His ability is completely useless!”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the white-robed man pointed his middle finger directly at Demihov, still lounging in the rocking chair.

“And you! Get your stinking feet off my desk!”

At that moment, the white-robed man was like a powder keg ready to explode, radiating danger. Demihov had no desire to upset him further and reluctantly stuffed his feet back into his shoes, then moved the phone and books on the desk back into place.

“What? Couldn’t find her? Honestly, I don’t understand what that old fool is thinking either.”

Demihov muttered.

Originally, Tao Jin had been sending weekly letters to the “Scholar” branch base—the Brand University Library. But two weeks ago, he suddenly fell silent.

Word from the logging group was that a fierce fire had broken out at the logging site, and Tao Jin had unfortunately died there.

However, survivors from the site later spread rumors that a female mage had been invited by Tao Jin into his tent. If the rumors were true, it was highly likely that mage had killed Tao Jin.

“And in my opinion, Tao Jin must have provoked that mage. That guy’s mind was never quite right to begin with, and with the Blessing of ‘Memory Alteration,’ he probably started the fight and ended up getting himself killed.”

Demihov said with a look of disdain.

He genuinely wanted nothing to do with this matter. From the very first moment he met Tao Jin, he had seen right through his character. Moreover, Tao Jin’s increasingly frequent use of “Memory Alteration” only made him more insane and unreasonable.

If someone like that got killed, so be it. Why bother?

Lately, the “Scholar” organization seemed to have grown quiet, rarely making any moves. This low-profile attitude had led outsiders to mistakenly believe they were weak and easy to bully.

The higher-ups of the “Scholar” organization noticed this subtle shift and were quite displeased. They decided to take action to rectify the situation and restore their authority.

However, they were unwilling to dirty their own hands. After some thought, they delegated the task to the “Scholar” branch in Mobius City—the branch Tao Jin had belonged to—strictly ordering them to capture Tao Jin’s killer by any means necessary.

Deep within the library, the old man regarded as the head of the Mobius City “Scholar” branch used “Deduction” to calculate the whereabouts of Tao Jin’s killer and learned that this person was headed to Mobius City.

He informed the white-robed man that he must bring Rynese to the library.

To wait for Rynese, the white-robed man enlisted Demihov, who worked at a clinic, to temporarily take over his duties as the librarian.

Demihov naturally had no interest in this task and went to ask the old man why they couldn’t just refuse the assignment, as they had done before.

But the old man mysteriously told them:

“This time, it’s not an option.”

Since they couldn’t refuse, the white-robed man used his own special channels and methods to successfully contact a crosser in that village—Norsak.

He instructed Norsak to either find a way to bring Rynese to Mobius City or inform her that she must wait at the Mobius City train station.

However, after two long nights of patiently staking out the area around Mobius City train station, the white-robed man still saw no sign of Rynese.

He confronted Norsak, who insisted that Rynese had set out long ago, that he had relayed the white-robed man’s message exactly, and that he had personally seen Rynese board the train to Mobius City.

Yet, no one knew where Rynese had actually gone.

“Alright, alright. If we can’t find her, we can’t find her. We never wanted to be involved in this mess to begin with… Those guys, just because they arrived a few years earlier, act all high and mighty.”

Demihov said carelessly, his tone full of contempt.

Hearing Demihov’s words, the white-robed man felt some of his frustration dissipate.

Demihov pointed downward with his finger, a sly glint in his eyes. He thought they should go to the old man deep in the library and convince him to drop this matter. That way, they could save themselves a lot of trouble and effort.

He was truly tired of staying in this dull place, watching naive and foolish people wandering in and out like headless flies.

“This was originally your job. Because of this mess, I have to work at the clinic during the day and watch the door for you here at night. Even if I had a hundred lives, it wouldn’t be enough.”

Demihov muttered under his breath, just loud enough for the white-robed man to hear.

“Is that all you’ve got? As an unregistered Viscount, what’s a couple of sleepless nights to you? Hmph. I think you’re just obsessed with your shady, dirty research.”

The white-robed man retorted irritably.

“That’s just a bad habit from the original world… Life is too comfortable now. I can’t even smell blood anymore.”

Demihov shrugged. He didn’t want to be like this, but the addiction was real—he simply couldn’t stop.

Walking down the long, winding spiral staircase, the white-robed man and Demihov finally pushed open the heavy door to the library’s underground level.

As soon as they entered, the white-robed man敏锐地 noticed a pungent yet faintly fragrant tobacco scent hanging in the air.

“Hey, the old man’s at it again.”

Demihov recognized the familiar smell. He looked inside and saw a gaunt old man sitting cross-legged, holding a slender pipe that clearly didn’t belong to this world. The pipe was filled with a deep green powder that, when lit, released thick white smoke.

“Hey, old man, you’re smoking again when you’re not using ‘Deduction’! What a waste! If you really can’t help it, why not come back to my clinic? I’ll fix this bad habit for you.”

Demihov shouted.

But the old man at the far end seemed not to hear. He continued smoking the “tobacco”—Elven Leaf—that had been transported from the distant Elven Forests to human cities and processed. Being in a remote border city like Mobius made Elven Leaf hard to come by and exorbitantly expensive.

Yet, the old man had been a complete addict even before arriving here. How could he resist the craving?

Even though Demihov had once tied him up in the research room under his clinic and tortured him with branding irons, whips, and knives to try to sober him up, it backfired. The old man became even more dependent on the “tobacco.”

The funding the “Scholar” organization allocated to Mobius City was already meager. With an old man who constantly wanted to smoke and buy expensive “tobacco,” it was nearly impossible for the Mobius City “Scholar” branch to achieve anything.

Who knows what the higher-ups at the “Scholar” headquarters saw in this old man.

Could it be just the ‘Deduction’ Divine Blessing?

Speaking of which, a new pharmaceutical factory recently opened in the neighboring city. Maybe we could get cheaper drugs from there. Perhaps the old man would like them, and then I could divert more funds to my research.

“Hopeless, isn’t he?”

The white-robed man paid no mind to the old man’s condition. He strode over, snatched the pipe from the old man’s mouth.

“Hey, we have business to discuss.”

The white-robed man said loudly.

Seeing that the old man seemed still lost in the pleasant afterglow of the “tobacco,” Demihov walked over and slapped him twice.

Stung by the pain, the old man’s euphoric expression sobered up a bit.

“Wha… what is it?”

The old man slurred. Hey, on closer look, the old man was missing two front teeth. His speech was whistling. It seemed he’d fall apart completely in a few years.

“I didn’t detect any sign of the mage who killed Tao Jin entering Mobius City.”

The white-robed man shook his head helplessly. He had waited for two consecutive nights without catching a single glimpse of Rynese.

“How… how is that possible? I must… ‘Deduce.’ She cannot be allowed to leave Mobius alive… Otherwise… otherwise there will be great chaos.”

The old man suddenly stood up and snatched the pipe back from the white-robed man. Despite being emaciated from years of smoking, the strength in his body was far greater than the white-robed man had imagined.

The old man settled back into his spot, leisurely smoking while tossing a few copper coins in his hand. He muttered words like “Upper Immortal,” “Eight Trigrams,” and “Deduction.”

After a moment, the old man suddenly raised the pipe high with one hand, his face full of piety, and dropped to his knees with a thud. Who knows what vision he had seen.

“I understand… I respectfully see the Upper Immortal off.”

The old man said reverently.

Only after the “tobacco” in the pipe had completely burned away, dissolving into a wisp of smoke, did the old man slowly rise to his feet.

But now, the vitality in his eyes seemed to have faded along with the smoke, growing dimmer.

“Hoo…”

The old man exhaled a large cloud of white smoke from his chest.

“I saw… that person, in a… tavern.”

“That person must die… The Immortals (Gods) will not tolerate… her.”