「 "The author of this letter was likely the mara-struck you defeated. My guess is he was led astray and poisoned while under the pretext of being cured. You saw how he ended up..."
"Such behavior reminds me of an organization that has been extinct on the Xianzhou for a thousand years—the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus!"
"They were disciples of the Abundance that sought to restore the way of immortality by unearthing a forbidden remedial formula."
Qingzhu's meaning was simple: if there were any clues about the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus in the future, they should be handed over to the Cloud Knights. Of course, the rewards would not be skimped on.
Currently, the situation on the Xianzhou is chaotic, and It seems that certain individuals are taking advantage of the current chaos to lure in outworlders around Exalting Sanctum.
Qingzhu also recommended using that as a starting point.
Stelle arrived at the streets of Exalting Sanctum, originally thinking she would have to search for a long time. However, just after leaving the Ten-Lords Commission and walking to the entrance of a small alley, a seemingly eccentric man immediately ran over: "Excuse me, guest from another world. Please spare me a moment of your time. Do you yearn for immortality?"
Stelle: "…"
Qingzhu had said before that the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus was an illegal organization that sought eternal life. But to openly recruit people in front of the Ten-Lords Commission, wasn't that a bit too arrogant! 」
「 .....」
〜Zenless Zone Zero World〜
"Uh… I don't even know where to begin complaining."
Asaba Harumasa rubbed his forehead; it was a miracle that this thing could resurface.
"An illegal organization openly recruiting people right across the street from the Ten-Lords Commission, without even bothering to act… The grave robbers of New Eridu at least observe for a few months before recruiting new members."
"It should be intentional on the Cloud Knights' part, right?"
Tsukishiro Yanagi pushed up the glasses on his nose.
"Stelle is the bait they've put out, just waiting for the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus to bite. It's not hard to deal with this pawn, but it would be bad if it alerted the enemy."
"But using eternal life as bait… it's quite attractive, actually. If it were me, I might even go in and try it."
Asaba Harumasa subconsciously touched the crucifix pendant collar around his neck.
"Trying it might lead to your demise."
Tsukishiro Yanagi kindly reminded him,
"There are no benefits in this world that come completely without a price. If there are… then it must be the boring rhetoric of a pyramid scheme scammer, and they should be arrested immediately."
"And I don't think this Disciples of Sanctus Medicus will be that simple; there should be more trials to enter, right? The more trials you pass, the higher position you can climb, isn't that how pyramid schemes work?"
—
「 "I yearn for power!" Stelle put her hands on her hips and proudly raised her head.
"…"
The strange man frowned deeply, but then his eyes lit up as if he had suddenly understood.
"Oh, I see! You mean you desire eternal life, right? After all, immortality is also a kind of power!"
Stelle persisted, "No. I want power, pure and simple."
"Uh…" The strange man was speechless for a moment.
"I'm at my wit's end with you, sister."
"Haha, what a peculiar person you are. I'll tell it to you straight — to outworlders I offer the chance of immortality... Before you can grasp absolute power, you must yearn for immortality, don't you think?" The strange man deliberately lowered his voice and whispered.
"My name is Green Hibiscus. I came to Exalting Sanctum in hopes of a fated encounter with one such as yourself — one who is also on the road to immortality together. What do you say? How about we find a more suitable spot to talk about all this?"
This was exactly what Stelle wanted. She had originally intended to infiltrate them, and there was no reason to refuse a reward that came knocking on her door.
Stelle followed him, turning left and right, into a secluded residence.
There were many people inside, even a Cloud Knight among them! As soon as they saw Green Hibiscus, they immediately stood up respectfully.
Although Stelle was not afraid, she still tried to act completely terrified for the sake of the act.
"What are you up to?"
"Relax. By the mercy of Sanctus Medicus, I will not harm you." Green Hibiscus reassured her.
"Let me reintroduce myself. I am a Denizen of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus. It was inconvenient to reveal my identity in Exalting Sanctum before, but now I can tell you without worry."
It was indeed the genuine Disciples of Sanctus Medicus! It truly came without any effort. Stelle's eyes gradually lit up as she looked at Green Hibiscus; this was a walking reward!
But Green Hibiscus interpreted this sparkle as a desire for eternal life and couldn't help but smile with satisfaction. As expected, this person was a qualified good prospect! 」
「 .....」
〜Overlord World〜
"So this is how the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus recruits humans? I see…"
In the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Demiurge, witnessing the Denizen's rhetoric, suddenly seemed to realize something and showed an enlightened expression.
"Hmm? Demiurge, what did you think of? This human's rhetorical skills are far from clever, aren't they?"
Albedo cast a questioning glance at the man in the suit beside her.
"It has nothing to do with his rhetoric… it's just that the organization of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus gave me some inspiration."
"Oh? Do tell."
A look of reverence appeared on Demiurge's face, and his tone became slightly serious:
"Albedo, do you remember the task Ainz-sama entrusted to us earlier?"
"Of course, Ainz-sama established the Sorcerous Kingdom, but he was worried that other kingdoms might secretly organize resistance forces, so he ordered us to prepare intelligence work in advance and eliminate any forces detrimental to the Sorcerous Kingdom at any time."
"Yes, that's it."
Demiurge's tone gradually lightened.
"It's difficult to completely eliminate the rats hiding in the gutters, but if there's a way to gather them all together and then catch them in one fell swoop—"
"The method you're talking about, it wouldn't be to imitate the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, would it?"
"You got it, Albedo."
Finally getting to his core plan, Demiurge said eagerly,
"We can send people to various kingdoms, form anti-Sorcerous Kingdom forces, and use this as bait to gather all the humans who secretly attempt to resist Ainz-sama in various kingdoms."
"It's too troublesome to find the hiding rats one by one… Come to think of it, if the leader of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus were a member of the Cloud Knights, then that woman named Qingzhu probably wouldn't have a headache, right? She would just need to secretly dispatch the army and kill all these humans."
At the mention of slaughter, Demiurge's mood became very pleasant, and his body even began to tremble slightly uncontrollably.
"Hmm, an excellent plan."
Albedo praised,
"Indeed, only you, Demiurge, could come up with such a method."
"I wouldn't dare accept such praise. When Ainz-sama entrusted this matter to us, he must have noticed this part, and was just waiting for me to bring it up, right?"
Demiurge gave Albedo, as a Guardian, his usual smile.
—