Azure Scepter

Page 106

At that moment, Futia also turned to look at the little girl. The instant she saw the little girl's face, her azure eyes suddenly narrowed.

She knew this little girl!

Although the little girl had dyed her hair chestnut brown, she was undoubtedly the vessel for the demon lord in the Trier prophecy! She had met him before Dragon's Kiss Pass!

We must control this little girl and take her straight back to the Upper City!

In a flash, Futia made a decision.

She blinked and quickly began to think of tactics.

Think about what Trier will do—right, first calm her down, then try to abduct her!

Hmm... we can start with shared experiences.

Futia's eyes lit up, and she immediately began to formulate her thoughts.

The little girl didn't seem to notice anything amiss with Futia. She hesitated for a moment, then timidly said to Edith again, "Kind lady, could you do me another favor? I'd like to make a deal with you."

Edith hesitated, about to answer, when the elf spoke first: "Hey, thief, do you remember me? A few weeks ago, you stole a piece of my dried rations near Dragon's Kiss Pass!"

The little girl's face turned deathly pale instantly. She cried out "Ah!" and then quickly jumped behind Edith.

"Don't scare her, Feudia." Edith shielded the little girl behind her, then touched her wet hair. "By the way, what do you want me to help you with?"

"Save him." The little girl blinked timidly. "A paladin who has been selflessly protecting me has been captured. I know where he is, but I can't rescue him by myself."

Edith pondered for a moment and immediately recalled the name of the missing paladin from the briefing—Alex.

“Is it Alex?” Edith asked.

The little girl nodded in surprise.

“Yes, his name is Alex. He is a true paladin, and as kind as you are—kind lady. If you help me rescue him, I will give you this wool cloak.”

"You clearly stole this from the guards!" Futia couldn't help but complain. "Besides, a thief's disappearance is a big deal. If you just provide the guards with clues, they will definitely take care of it."

The little girl frowned.

"I'm not a thief!"

She paused for a moment, then peeked out from behind Edith and made a face at Fythia: "I tried to give them clues too, but as you saw, they actually tried to arrest me!"

Futia frowned slightly.

She already knew from Trier that Nordman was connected to the Demon Lord, and that Nordman had close ties with the city guards—under these circumstances, it was reasonable for the town guards to arrest the little girl in secret, but ignoring the little girl's report was another matter entirely.

This is so wrong.

Thinking of this, the elf turned his head to look at Edith.

The two of them made eye contact.

“Fodia, we have to help her,” Edith said quite seriously.

Fatiya blinked in shock, her ears twitching in astonishment.

"Are you serious? I think it would be better to... just take her back to the Upper City. Now is not a good time to take risks."

“I’m serious.” Edith pursed her lips.

Fatiah found it completely incomprehensible.

Is it really reasonable to leave such an unstable factor that could destroy the entire city at any moment running around? The risk is far too great.

"why?"

“I…I don’t know either.” Edith hesitated. “Perhaps…perhaps I just want to fulfill my holy knight’s oath.”

Upon hearing Edith's words, Futia was stunned.

At that moment, the young elf suddenly realized a serious problem: due to her long-term interaction with Trier, her way of thinking seemed to have undergone a significant change.

In the past, she would never have refused to lend a helping hand to anyone in need, but after spending time with Trier, she began to unconsciously weigh the pros and cons and risks.

Is this really a good thing? Futia wondered to herself.

A moment later, she lowered her eyelids and let out a long sigh—this was not a good thing.

The next moment, she made up her mind.

"Alright, since you've made up your mind, then I'll support helping the thief—the thief, where's that paladin?"

The little girl was taken aback at first, then a smile of excitement spread across her face.

"You really are a good person!"

She paused for a moment, then said to Edith, "Kind lady, please defeat the evil princess Edith and rescue Alex from this tyrant's prison!"

???

Edith's hand, which was stroking the little girl's hair, suddenly froze.

what?

Did I capture Alex?

How come I'm the one who does all the bad things?!

Chapter 213 The Eraf Holiday (Part 4)

Hearing the little girl's words, Fythia suppressed a laugh and asked, "Thief, do you know that this kind lady in front of you is actually a wicked person...?"

Before she could finish speaking, Edith suddenly rushed in front of her and patted her shoulder hard.

“Actually, he’s the nemesis of evildoers who do anything.” Futia instantly understood, she forcefully suppressed her laughter, and then changed her words.

"Then she can definitely defeat Tyrant Edith!" The little girl's eyes widened, her face filled with admiration.

“Defeating the tyrant Edith is not difficult,” Edith said, forcing a smile. “But as far as I know, the princess isn’t that evil. She is actually quite dutiful and cares for the kingdom’s people.”

“Kind lady, you’ve been tricked!” the little girl said solemnly. “The princess bathes in virgin blood every day; she definitely wants to kill you!”

At this point, the little girl suddenly took two steps back, then looked Edith up and down carefully: "The prettier the virgin, the better the effect, so you must be careful! Hmm... Elf, you must be careful too!"

Fatiya gave an awkward but polite smile, crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, trying to suppress her laughter, and turned her head to look into the distance.

“That’s pure rumor,” Edith said. “In fact, I see Edith every day.”

"But that's what everyone says!"

The little girl became agitated; she threw down her golden wool cloak and jumped in front of Edith.

“Even the old dwarf who taught me to read said so!” the little girl said, waving her hands.

Edith blinked.

"Does that mean everything others say is correct?"

“But the old dwarf is the wisest and most learned person in the world besides Alex. He’s always right!” the little girl retorted.

"Then wouldn't you become your teacher's puppet?" Edith couldn't help but say.

After she finished speaking, she suddenly fell silent—at that moment, she suddenly realized that she was no different from the little girl in some ways, and she seemed to be... the teacher's puppet.

The next moment, she suddenly recalled that Trier had said something similar to her a few weeks ago.

Edith pursed her lips involuntarily.

“But, kind lady, it is absolutely true that Edith kidnapped Alex,” the little girl said.

Edith remained silent for a moment, then asked, "What good would it do her to capture a paladin?"

“Alex has discovered her secret, a secret powerful enough to overthrow her tyrannical rule,” the little girl whispered, her eyes filled with certainty. “I have evidence—Alex left it with me before she went to see the tyrant!”

"Alex had an audience with the princess?" Edith repeated, emphasizing each word. "But as far as I know, that's not true at all."

The little girl glanced at Edith with disdain: "Kind lady, you're too stupid. A tyrant would always make a secret arrest; how could he let a good person like you know?"

Edith was momentarily speechless. She wanted to refute it, but after carefully recalling the details of various plays and novels, she suddenly realized that it seemed the villains' plots against the good guys were indeed carried out in secret...

"Ahem." At this moment, Futia coughed lightly twice, interrupting the two's unproductive conversation. "Thief, you should know that dealing with Edith is not easy. Her power is comparable to that of Balor—before we take action, we need to see the evidence first."

“Of course.” The little girl nodded. “Come with me.”

……

……

Temporary relief point in the outer city area.

"Your Excellency, it is absolutely true," Captain Foyle said excitedly. "I saw a high-ranking demon!"

Trier didn't reply immediately. After performing Holy Healing on a blood-covered, unconscious woman, he slowly turned around.

“You’re lying,” Trier said calmly, glancing at the captain of the guard.

The captain of the guard was slightly taken aback. Just as he was about to make a strong argument, he saw Trier gently wave his hand.

“I’ve placed the Domain of Honesty; there’s no point in arguing.” The paladin’s tone was calm. “Considering that you’ve helped Seres recruit auxiliary soldiers these past few weeks, I can give you a chance to explain.”

—After completing the employment negotiations with Seres, the transmigrator did three main things in the following weeks.

First, he controlled the Corpse Demon army to constantly harass Eraf's northwest direction, greatly weakening the Silent Whisper Society's defenses and accumulating a considerable amount of experience.

However, due to the excessive intensity of his harassment, the Silent Whisperers could no longer tolerate it. The cultists believed that Fort Aureno was the gathering point for the harassing army, so they specially dispatched a group of elite troops from the east to attack and capture Fort Aureno.

Secondly, he completed the initial preparation and assembly of the army. Through various methods, he had assembled an army of 2000 men, including 800 men from the military contractor Seris, about 600 private soldiers from some ambitious nobles of the Southern Duchy, and the remaining 700 were lightly armed auxiliary soldiers temporarily recruited from the outer city. At the same time, he also repaired the hanging corpse "Silence" that had been damaged by the Balrog.

—In order to better recruit auxiliary troops and delay the outbreak of the riots, Trier specially set up a temporary relief point in the outer city.

Through high-priced grain purchases, paladin healing abilities, formidable strength, and some effective but less-than-honorable political maneuvering, Trier built a terrifying reputation among the refugees in the outer city within a few weeks.

In a way, Trier has become the de facto leader of these desperate refugees—he even gained 1 point of Legendary status for it, and ridiculously increased his Charisma by 2 points through training.

Finally, Trier meticulously investigated the lich Losevie's whereabouts, but strangely, no matter what method he used, Trier could not find her—not even a trace, as if she did not exist at all.

Since Rosée's whereabouts remained uncertain, Trier's original plan for a violent coup had to be postponed.

At this moment, the time traveler silently stared at the guard captain opposite him.

The captain of the guards feigned composure, but nervously swallowed hard.

"Your Excellency, I...I've been caught up in a conspiracy that could destroy Eraf! Please save me!"

P.S.: QWQ, my computer keyboard got wet, so I can only type on my phone. Sorry.

Chapter 214 Wish (Part 1)

The air was thick with the stench of negativity, and fine rain pattered incessantly on the rotten wooden planks, while murky, dirty water spilled down the planks and landed at Edith's feet.

"This is it! I hid the evidence here!"

As the little girl spoke, she tiptoed to the semi-underground stone ruins that resembled a cave dweller's burrow. She bent down, grabbed the edge of the rotten wooden plank blocking the entrance with both hands, and then suddenly flung it to her side.

"Thud." The wooden plank that served as the door fell to the ground with a few strands of golden wool stuck to it, revealing a small, enclosed space that required bending over to enter, and an indescribable damp and musty smell wafted over Edith.

Fatiya covered her nose with disgust: "Thief, don't you ever clean? This is so dirty."

“Of course I will, but it always rains here,” the little girl replied, seemingly unrelated to the question. “I haven’t been here much since Alex was secretly captured by the tyrant—wait a moment, I’ll get him out right away.”

As the little girl spoke, she crawled into the hole.

After a rustling sound, a little girl's scream came from inside the stone cave. Edith instinctively drew her holy sword to help, but after a few breaths, the little girl crawled out on her own.

"I saw several incredibly large rats, their tails were all curled up together, and I was startled, so I screamed. Please forgive me," the little girl explained.

As she spoke, she gripped the groove in the stone with her left hand, then pulled herself back to the ground with a strong tug.

Edith noticed that she was holding a roll of parchment in her hand.

“Elf, kind lady—this is the evidence you wanted.” The little girl proudly waved the parchment in her hand. “Would you like to see it?”

“Of course.” Edith nodded, then eagerly took the parchment and began to read.

"Sir Alex Falmphiste: By order of Her Highness the Princess, upon receiving the command, you are to immediately assemble your forces and proceed to the Lighthouse Theatre to capture the actress Dorothy. According to our spies, she is a succubus in disguise, skilled in bewitching magic. Lord Oris, the Sword of Judgment, will send men to assist you."

Edith frowned – someone had forged her orders.

She read the document again carefully and found that all the formats were extremely standard, and the stamp at the end of the document was exactly the same as the original.

"How about it?" the little girl asked expectantly. "Now you'll believe me, right?"

“Someone forged the princess’s edict,” Edith said.

The little girl's expectant face instantly fell.

"I think you're just scared," the little girl said provocatively, then continued in a deliberately subdued tone, "I know the princess is cunning and powerful. I'm sorry, my demands were excessive..."