Finding unpolished gems

While Leonard was trying to find more evidence he sighed at the moment, today was November 12. It's already been a few weeks since he regressed. 

"Now it's quite boring."

He still has a month till the trial. In actuality, he has enough evidence to put Elizabeth in the dirt. But he wasn't satisfied, he also had to play the role of a villain, although in his way. 

"Oh yeah… I postponed this because I found out about Lorraine's distress calls."

To build his power in the dark. What's the best way to do so but to raise your own?

He then sat in a lotus position and started meditating, improving his mana cycle. 

"Okay just a bit more."

Leonard fully concentrated, his focus was for one reason. The mana eye, he already managed to make a starting foot into making it. 

The mana eye is very useful for Leonard, he relied on this very eye on the first run. What can it do? Appraisal with no chant. Not like Leonard chants anyways. But it's very useful in appraising people without even being suspicious. 

And especially that mana eye taps in the realm of scia, the dimension of information. If a human even dared enter that realm it would be dead before it even blink. 

The amount of knowledge that the Realm Scia holds is infinite, not even a speck of dust in there is equivalent to what humans have discovered in its long course of history. 

Well not like it would have a speck of dust in there, the realm of scia is an intangible realm.  

"Ha… ha… "

Leonard breathed deeply and opened his eyes slowly. 

"Alright… "

He looked at the vase on top of his drawer, he slowly drew mana to his eyes. To his expectation, the mana eyes worked. 

[William's Porcelain vase.]

—An original handmade vase from William DeFoe. His craftsmanship earned respect from many masters from the continent. 

Item Type: Decoration

Proper Value: 15,000 Oles

Price bought: 12,000 oles. 

"Wow, did father just con someone?"

Leonard proceeded to check the surroundings as well, he could see the mana floating around and some life force from the greenery outside. 

"Is it strong enough to see life force? That's not what happened when I bought it from the system."

Maybe he bought the mana eye with a specific function whilst this mana eye of his contains all the functions. 

"Okay, now I'm getting dizzy…"

He stopped the flow of mana towards his eyes to deactivate the mana eye. In the first run, Leonard bought [Mana eye: appraisal and mana stamp {Activated} {5,000 points}] from the system. 

Probably it was a very specific function that's why he could use it passively in the first run but now his head would ache by the amount of information that meets his eyes. 

"Can't I just like… Filter it?"

He wanted to only see the necessary information but it seems he already created the mana eye that he couldn't buy it off the system. 

"Ha… anyways."

He deactivated his eyes for now. Mana eyes are extremely useful, it's only side effect is that it glows in the dark. 

After resting for a bit, Leonard asked the Butler to prepare a simple car with no crest from the family. A simple car that seems to blend with other third-class families. 

It made the Butler wary for a second but did anyways, he'll report this to Richard anyways. 

He brought only one bodyguard. A bodyguard that has been serving the Marchen family for years. 

"Your name?"

"Markus."

"Okay, Markus be vigilant."

"Yes, young master."

Leonard sat in the back seat of the car after it arrived. He was wearing something informal like civilian clothing.

"Go to Bentheim district."

"B-but young master, that's the slums!"

"I know, just go."

Leonard just kept his blank face, the only thing he bought was a few magic items for self-defense. 

Whilst he has a couple of magic techniques he only has a couple of auxiliary magic techniques. 

Shadow Arts are not fit for a confrontation but infiltrating and assassination. And his killing intent is useless to someone of an equal level if there is any. 

So a bodyguard was enough for now till he built his strength. 

After a few minutes of traversing they reached the entrance to Bentheim District. 

"Tsk tsk tsk… this is the worst place in the Duke's territory." The Driver lamented

"It is…"

Leonard couldn't help but be amazed at how big the slum is. Slums have the highest rate of trafficking even though there are already preventive measures for them. 

To fully lower those percentages of trafficking, the slums need to be removed. 

But that would be hard because the amount of people living in this area is about in the thousands and even to this day managing a thousand people is truly hard. 

"Oh well… "

Thinking about how to remove the slums isn't what Leonard was here for. It's to find unpolished gems. 

"Markus, hide yourself."

"Yes."

When Leonard walked out of the car, he stepped on the uneven road of the slums. It's gravel and dirt and there are even small puddles then and there. 

Leonard doesn't want to know what those puddles are made of. 

Leonard started walking to a specific alley, he seems to be a little familiar with the slums. 

'If I'm correct there is a demon working in here. He collects children as a tribute to the demon King…'

Leonard walked to the end of the alley and turned left just to go for a right in another block. 

"It's… ah here it is."

He then stumbled upon a shabby-looking house, it was large and Leonard couldn't help but be amazed someone managed to maintain it. 

Walking up to the door he knocked. But none answered. He might've thought that he was at fault, solely because these are the slums. The crime rate here is high. 

"Hello?"

He knocked once again. 

"Coming."

Then he finally got an answer. It was a hoarse voice so it was from a man. When the door opened he met a tall man. 

Dark circles in his eyes and his gaze were sharp. He has a man bun, a simple t-shirt, and black pants. 

"Is this the orphanage?"

The man's eyes glowed for a moment.

'Oh?'

"Yes, this is the Orphanage."

"Haha… I don't need to explain my name now do I?"

Leonard used his mana eye. 

[Certhac Lucht]

Age: 320

Race: Daemon, Shapeshifter. 

Mana purity: impure. 

Magic prowess: Apprentice Bishop. 

Leonard then deactivated his mana eye, it made his eyes itch a bit but that's all. So apparently the man before him is the demon he's trying to find. 

And his magic prowess is an Apprentice Bishop. It's just above a mage, meaning he was weak and can be defeated if a group of 2 Apprentice mages attacked him. 

"... Come in."

"haha thank you"

Certhac opened the door and Leonard walked in whilst showing his simple smile. 

After Certhac closed the door Leonard was expecting an attack but Certhac just walked on. 

"Follow me… let's talk where the kids won't hear it."

It seems Certhac was planning to talk to Leonard seriously. And Leonard just followed Certhac. In a small office, he was led. 

After closing the door Certhac moved to the desk and sat on it. It was a simple office. Though it was quite bland since the only decoration there is a cactus plant. 

"I didn't know you'd had mana eyes as well. Young master."

"It seems that way."

"That's a lost technique deliberately erased by the demons more than a millennia ago."

"Oh, is it?"

It's the first time Leonard heard such a thing. 

"Please sit, we don't want our conversation with the guest standing now right?"

Leonard sat at the chair in front of the desk. It's not very comfy but it was good enough. 

"You seem to be calm, is it because I'm a child?"

"not really" Certhac shook his head. "What's the point if the demon king was dead."

"I see."

Leonard forgot the demon king was dead when he regressed. But that doesn't matter, he just needed the points. 

[Mission detected.]

"...?"

[Certhac is dying, and he needed someone to take care of the kids.]

—Certhac was never loyal to the demon king; he had seen the horror of wars and deemed it a useless endeavor. 

He asked to infiltrate the human continent to gather talented individuals to send a tribute to the demon King but in actuality, he was just there to take care of children. 

Reward: Shapeshifting ring. 2,000 points. 

Penalty: Elizabeth winning the trial. 

Difficulty: B

Leonard couldn't help but flinch. Elizabeth winning the case? How come? He had enough evidence to prosecute Elizabeth. 

Thanks to this Leonard knew he had to get to the Imperial archives. Then he realized the reward of the mission. 

"Well… I'm here to find gems."

When Certhac heard this he couldn't help but frown and look at Leonard with disgust. 

"Why with that look?"

"I took those kids out of battle, I am not putting them in such a situation again."

Certhac was resolute on his wish, The demon King was dead, there's no need to put them in harm's way. 

"Woah, I'm not going to do that. Not at all."

"As you said the Demon King is dead. That's true. But you know there is one common enemy for humans and the demons."

"... The world line?"

"Yes, and there's this newly discovered continent too. Do you think the kids could stay unknown to danger forever?"

"..."

"Besides, Certhac remembers that we need to train them first. We're not the Empire from a millennia ago; we've advanced."

"Right… "

Certhac leaned forward and rested his face on his palm and took a deep breath. 

"I have a confession."

"... I ain't a priest."

"Haha…  Right, but it would involve those kids."

"... Alright…"

"You know about Mana overcharge right?"

Leonard nodded. 

"When an individual uses too much mana than they could they could get either mana poisoning or flesh degradation."

"... You look perfectly fine… Though?"

Certhac displayed a soft smile. Those dark circles in his eyes aren't for show. 

"I overcharged trying to save some people 50 years ago. And I think I'm going to reach my limit in a few years."

"... Really?"

"yeah… I got the poisoning which is great. Since I could at least slow it down."

"Can I see the children at least?"

"Sure…"

Certhac stood up, there are no signs of him being poisoned at all, he even seemed healthy except when you looked him in the eye. 

Leonard couldn't help but use his mana eye and check his internal mana structure. Then he believed that Certhac's case is worse than he thought.