Chapter 373: Green Peach Grove (Part 5)

They took their sweet time arriving at a place called Green Peach Grove.

It was another beautiful bamboo forest, and hidden within it was a pretty, nameless town.

This place couldn’t be found on any map. Only a select few knew of its existence, and it was simply called Green Peach Grove.

Because this was the Perry family’s private manor. The entire town had been built for a specific, special purpose. Patrolling the edges of the forest were noble knights, their security tight, keeping idle people far away.

Veronica had already figured out a method to infiltrate, and it was incredibly easy. All they needed were some nice clothes to slip right in.

Even Samimi now understood what that place was for. It was essentially a high-end club for the local elite.

“Where are we supposed to get nice clothes? Listen to me, let’s just launch a direct assault.”

Samimi didn’t want to execute Veronica’s plan. She was ready to have Fabiana summon an army of Skeleton Knights and just charge in head-on.

“No, if we do that, we’ll definitely hurt innocent people.”

But Veronica flatly rejected Samimi’s suggestion.

As an assassin, she didn’t accept choosing a violent, frontal assault for every problem. She also didn’t accept making a complete mess of the mission.

Samimi couldn’t argue with her. After all, they had brought Veronica into the team specifically to help with strategy. If they ignored her advice, there was no point in having her.

“Still, we really don’t have any nice clothes,” Samimi said again.

“They don’t need to be that fancy. The two of you are fine as you are. Don’t you have any other female holy practitioner clothes?” Veronica asked.

“I have another set of pastoralist robes, and all kinds of stockings,” Samimi said.

“Perfect. Get her changed,” Veronica said.

“Me?” Fabiana pointed at herself.

“And one more thing, hide all your weapons inside Niubao’s storage ring. You have a storage ring, there’s no need to be so conspicuous. What are you, trying to show off? Can you be a little more low-key out here?”

Veronica finally had a chance to lay into their usual code of conduct.

After spending several days with them, Veronica could tell that the Archbishop and her half-beast bodyguard were the type of fake holy practitioners with no faith. They were nothing like the stereotypical holy practitioners.

They had no faith in the Goddess in their hearts. They only used the doctrine as a tool to make money and climb the ladder of power.

She had seen too many people like this on Black Street. That place was a gray zone, after all. It was bound to be filled with many unscrupulous scumbags.

It was a good thing the Archbishop wasn’t scum to that degree. Even if she was a member of the Chaos Faction, she still had a little bit of principle. She still possessed a basic sense of good and evil.

“It’s a miracle Niubao has been with you this long without turning bad,” Veronica remarked.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Is there something wrong with my educational methods?” Samimi fumed.

“Nothing’s wrong with them at all. It’s a good thing you chose a free-range, laissez-faire style of education,” Veronica sneered. “Enough talk. Anna, change your clothes quickly. Archbishop, take off your veil and eye blindfold. Hide the Slaying Demon Sword.”

Under Veronica’s forceful leadership, Fabiana and Samimi had no choice but to obey.

The War Marshal took off her exclusive Pure White Knight armor. Though wearing the armor had once seemed so tragic and heroic, as the story progressed, this high-level armor had stopped playing much of a role. After all, the Pure White Knight had already changed jobs to become a Death Knight.

Normal people couldn’t even get close to her. She could summon a legion of heroic spirits to fight for her, barely needing close combat. The title of knight had become a misnomer; she was more like a summoner.

But Fabiana hadn’t neglected her swordsmanship because of it. She still trained diligently, even humbly asking Niubao and Veronica for advice.

Right now, however, she just wanted to punch Veronica.

“Hehe, that really suits you.” Samimi covered her mouth with a stifled laugh.

“The War Marshal isn’t bad-looking,” Veronica commented sharply.

Fabiana had been forced into a pure white pastoralist robe. It was a modified version, a cute little dress style, paired with white stockings and little leather shoes.

This made Fabiana, who was used to wearing heavy knight armor, extremely uncomfortable. Adding to her misery, her teammates were teasing her.

She could only console herself. It was all for the mission. It was all for better revenge.

“The real Fabiana is still alive. The Archbishop came to the South. These are our cards. I hope you have a clear understanding of your own reputation. Don’t casually expose your identities before we find the real enemy. Understand?” Veronica instructed. “Especially you, Archbishop. I know you guys are strong, but don’t expose your identity or goals just for some boring vanity. Okay?”

“Fine,” Samimi said.

“I understand,” Fabiana nodded.

“Niubao says she understands too,” Samimi added.

“Alright. Places, everyone.” Veronica clapped her hands, announcing the start of the mission.

“Wait, we’ve changed our clothes. What’s the next step?” Fabiana asked.

“The next step is…” Veronica pretended to be mysterious.

In the next scene, Samimi and the other two were sold by Veronica to a passing slave merchant, and for a sky-high price.

Though Niubao, being a half-beast, wasn’t worth much, Samimi and Fabiana, these two girls with an unmistakable noble aura, were incredibly valuable.

The slave merchant thought he had hit the jackpot. Three young, beautiful girls had suddenly appeared on the road, and Green Peach Grove wasn’t far away. All he had to do was send this premium goods inside, and he could at least make two or three times his investment.

He didn’t even suspect anything was wrong. The girl with the faded purple hair was clearly someone who ran in the underworld. She obviously knew about Green Peach Grove, and was just waiting here for a buyer, eager to get rid of them.

These three girls were clearly of unknown origin but exceptional birth. Only a high-level slave merchant like him could handle them.

It didn’t matter what their background was. Once they were brought into Green Peach Grove, they would never come out again. No worries at all.

Samimi and the others sat in the iron cage of the slave wagon, observing from the shadows.

As for Veronica, she utilized her assassin skills to act independently, infiltrating Green Peach Grove first.

Niubao, however, was already starting to doze off. She always got sleepy when riding in a carriage.

The slave wagon was escorted by several slave knight guards. Each wagon’s iron cage held several young girls.

Samimi also noticed that there were some girls even younger than herself and Niubao.

Fabiana whispered, “This is going so smoothly? They’re willing to trade us even though we’re dressed as holy practitioners?”

“It’s precisely because we’re dressed like this that we’re worth more, more popular,” Samimi said coldly. “For those lawless nobles, defiling a holy practitioner is a rare opportunity.”

“Hmph, you don’t understand this,” Samimi said with a disdainful smile.

“Understand what?” Fabiana asked, somewhat naively.

“…”

Fabiana fell silent for a moment.

Although she was also a noble, the Dilmurt family was a hundred percent righteous family. She hadn’t seen much of the scandals among the nobility.