Volume 5, Chapter 49 – Probing

I can’t.

Fia almost answered Claire in her heart without a second thought.

She couldn’t promise Tilulu that she could return to the Cold Night on a certain day in the future and stay with her forever. This was both because she didn’t know when Claire’s curse would be lifted and because of their respective identities. She was the Eldest Princess of Silvar, and Tilulu was the queen of the Cold Night. Their statuses dictated that they could only meet occasionally and could not be together all the time.

However, Fia still held a sliver of hope.

She looked at Tilulu, who was walking towards the arena exit, her ruby-like eyes filled with hesitation.

“Tilulu just hasn’t recognized her own identity. As she grows older, she will sooner or later realize what her royal bloodline means. Even if she is unwilling to get involved in this kind of struggle, she will surely be forced into it. This is not something that can be decided by her own will. So, rather than being dragged in by outsiders, it’s better for her to be the queen herself.”

Just as Tilulu had been reduced to a life of wandering, she was still being dragged into the power struggle by Nola and Chazo. Her innate royal bloodline destined her to be unable to stand aloof.

“But you have the ability, little Fia. A person who doesn’t want to be a king will only become an unqualified one even if they do ascend the throne. Rather than that, it’s better to let someone more capable do it, and then you can take Tilulu back to Silvar and let her live the life she likes. Perhaps in your eyes, she has lost something very important and it will become her eternal regret, but that is your thought. You can’t think that what you think is good, others will also think is good. What Tilulu longs for is care and warmth. The position of a king cannot give her these.”

“But we’ve already come this far…”

Tilulu had already declared herself queen. To back out now would be a complete loss of face.

But what Claire said was also the truth. She was just being pushed by Fia. She herself actually lacked the motivation to become a queen. In this situation, if she were to become too dependent on Fia and see becoming a queen as “becoming a queen for Fia’s sake,” and then Fia had to leave the Cold Night to lift Claire’s curse, what would she think? It was unimaginable. She was manipulating her life according to her own preferences.

This was not only detrimental to the ordinary people of the Cold Night, but also not good for Tilulu. History had countless vivid examples of what would happen when an unqualified and unmotivated person was forced to become a king.

At first, she had approached Tilulu under the pretext of using her, but now that she had made her dependent on her, she was hesitating. How hard to please.

If she hadn’t gotten involved in these things from the beginning and hadn’t self-righteously pushed her to the position of queen, she wouldn’t have so many worries.

Seeing through Fia’s thoughts from her flickering eyes, Claire crossed her arms and sighed softly.

“I’m just reminding you, Fia, not to rush in blindly. Pay more attention to her performance. You surely don’t want to see her being unhappy all day after becoming queen. It’s also a good practice to be prepared in advance and respect others’ choices.”

What Claire was trying to express was already very clear. Either find a motivation and goal for Tilulu to become queen, or find a way out for her to give up as soon as possible. As for what to do after she gives up, that was a problem for Fia to think about. Although giving up halfway was contemptible, it was better than making the wrong decision from the beginning to the end. Knowing when to give up was also a form of wisdom.

Tilulu saw her as her mother, so she should think for her from a mother’s perspective. Should she let her daughter become a monarch, or respect her thoughts and let her live a peaceful and leisurely life?

Her lips tightly pursed, Fia, who had come back from her thoughts, took a deep breath.

“Ah, I know. I’ll think about it carefully. When did you discover this, Claire?”

“A few days ago, maybe? That day in the carriage, when she heard you say you were going back to Silvar, her expression immediately became panicked.”

“It’s normal to be panicked, right?”

After all, she was her mother. No child would want their mother to leave them. That meant losing their support.

Claire smiled radiantly, put her index finger to her lips, her face full of charm.

“This is a woman’s intuition. In fact, not only me, but little Milu also felt that feeling that could turn sour at any time. She even worriedly asked me if I should deal with it. Little Milu’s heart is much more mature than her appearance.”

“A woman’s intuition…”

Fia couldn’t help but find it amusing. She had long known that Milu’s mental age was more mature than her appearance, but when it came to a woman’s intuition, there was still a sense of surprise. She herself did not have a sixth sense that was sharp enough to discern others’ thoughts, yet Milu, who was younger than her, could.

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“Sis~ter~!”

The patter of footsteps and Liti’s sweet call came from outside the door. Claire gave Fia a smile and then gestured towards the door with her chin.

“Everyone is back.”

“Somehow, it feels like Claire has become everyone’s mother.”

Like a parent to everyone, watching over them from a distance.

“Am I that old?”

Claire pouted like a pouting child.

“I mean in terms of personality.”

As soon as Fia’s voice fell, the room door was pushed open from the outside by Liti. Including her, Anastasia, Milu, and Tilulu appeared before Fia. Except for Milu’s expression, which was not very good, the other three were all happy, especially Liti, the winner, who ran to Fia with a very energetic atmosphere and stretched her head forward, as if waiting for praise.

“I won, you know~”

“Yes, yes.”

Following Liti’s thought, Fia stroked her head, which was covered in long, light-purple hair.

Then, Milu walked to Fia. She subconsciously thought that Milu was also waiting for her praise. However, after being patted on the head, Milu did not, like Liti, radiate a happy atmosphere. Her expression was still tense.

“Master, we met a strangely dressed man outside. He’s very dangerous. We need to be careful.”

“A strange man?”

Fia thought for a moment and looked back at the arena outside the glass wall. She could see the Wandering Knight in the dark red armor keeping his distance from Nola. Along with it, a huge, light-red pillar of light separated the arena from the audience seats. The obstructed view did not affect the audience’s enthusiasm. For most of them, this was their first time seeing a battle between powerhouses of this level.

“You mean the man in the armor?”

“Yes. He’s not a good person.”

Milu’s blood-red vertical pupils were filled with vigilance, and even the feathers on her wing-like ears were standing on end.

The Wandering Knight was a Darkborn. It was only natural for Milu to be nervous. But her current behavior was the same as when they had encountered the Abyss on the plains of Silvar. This most likely meant that his strength was comparable to the power that created the Abyss, which indirectly confirmed that the special atmosphere she had felt from him was not a coincidence—that sharpness that even the Elf God had not given her was something Fia could not ignore.

“I’ll be careful.”

With a serious expression, Fia withdrew her hands from stroking their heads.

After the day is over, I’ll disguise myself as Thanatos and secretly test his limits.

Hiding her thoughts, Fia tilted her head and looked at Tilulu. Liti and Milu had both received their rewards. Although she had lost the match, she couldn’t be biased.

“What about you, Tilulu?”

“I… I lost…”

Tilulu lowered her head, her hunched shoulders looking particularly nervous.

“Although Princess Tilulu lost the match, it was not in combat skills, but in her magic reserves being inferior to Her Highness Liti’s, and the variety of spells she has learned is too small. If she had been willing to use the stone-shooting staff given to her by Her Highness, the outcome would have been a different story.”

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“A spell of that power would have accidentally injured Miss Liti… to win by borrowing an item is too despicable.”

“A weapon is also a part of one’s strength. You should have taught Liti a good lesson so she wouldn’t be so smug.”

Ignoring Liti’s dissatisfied “what,” Fia took the initiative to pull Tilulu over and friendly ruffled her elastic beast ears.

Then, she caught a glimpse of a small silver metal chain peeking out of her pocket. At first, she thought it was the gem necklace she had taken from her, but upon closer inspection, she found that the two were not the same.

“What is this?”

Fia reached out and pulled out the metal chain. As she had thought, this was not the gem necklace she had given her, but a strange silver pendant. The pendant was made of metal and had no gems inlaid. The ornament on the chest was in the shape of a silver teardrop. At first glance, it was just an ordinary, unremarkable decoration.

“Huh?” Tilulu’s purple eyes widened, her face filled with surprise as she looked at the pendant in Fia’s hand. “This is Mr. Wandering Knight’s.”

“Did he give it to you?”

“I can’t say it was a gift…”

Tilulu recounted how the Wandering Knight had given the three of them silver pendants. It was strange that Milu had clearly refused his advances, and he had put the pendants back in his pocket on the spot, yet one had still appeared in Tilulu’s pocket. If he had secretly put it in, they would have surely caught him in the act. Anastasia was right by her side at that time.

“When did he put it in your pocket…”

“Throw it away. It’s definitely not a good thing.”

Milu stared at the pendant and emphasized.

“Wait a minute.”

Giving Milu a look to be patient, Fia quietly used an appraisal spell on the pendant.

As her ruby-like eyes were rendered a deep blue, information about the silver pendant soon appeared in her mind.

Then, her expression changed slightly, and she subconsciously gave Tilulu an extra look. The pendant did not, as the Wandering Knight had promised, have no magical ability. He had deceived them and given out something with a special effect.

Under normal circumstances, Fia would have immediately gone to settle the score with him. However, she hesitated as she looked at the information in her mind, and a plan gradually formed in her heart.

Her grave expression gradually softened, and she smiled as she handed the pendant back to Tilulu.

“I’ve checked it with an appraisal spell. It won’t have any negative effects on people. If you think it’s necessary, you can keep it. If you don’t like it, it’s fine to give it to me.”

Though she said this, she had actually already placed the pendant in her hand. Tilulu had no choice but to accept it.

“Then… I’ll take it.”

“Fia.”

Milu frowned and called her name directly, but Claire at the side took the initiative to change the subject for her.

“The fight below has started.”

As Claire had said, the fight between Nola and the Wandering Knight had officially begun. The two had no intention of holding back from the very beginning, and there were not even any probing attacks. Every clash between the Flame Greatsword and the knight’s sword would produce a heavy thud like giants fighting, followed by the trembling and cracking of the earth. If not for the rule that spells of the Sixth Tier and above could not be used in a duel, the entire audience would have been affected.

The fierce battle and the environment-altering magic made the originally cheering beastfolk fall silent. The intense pressure made it impossible for them to watch with appreciation anymore. Some even thought of running away, because this place could take their lives at any moment. The entire Hunting Ground was extremely quiet, with only the constantly flashing figures and the grand blast of magic in the arena.

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However, Fia was not paying attention to this battle. She was thinking about the plan she had buried in her heart just now.

How to choose, it’s better to leave it to Tilulu. I should just be the one who gives her a chance.

I hope everything goes well.

◇

Winter night.

Whether it was the weather or the battle between Nola and the Wandering Knight that had changed the celestial phenomena, a cold rain had been falling on the city of the Fire Cat Tribe since evening. Now the entire street was muddy, and the raindrops, mixed with the cold and bleakness, fell into the puddles. Paired with the pitch-blackness where one couldn’t see their hand in front of their face, a gloomy and ominous atmosphere drifted through the streets, like the twisted fingers of a phantom.

The security of the Fire Cat Tribe was not as good as in Silvar. Besides the education problem, there was also the untamable wildness of the beastfolk. In the daytime, in public, they would only do petty thievery. But at night, problems like murder and kidnapping were rampant. Few people would choose to go out at night.

“Ah!”

With a scream mixed with terror, the pitch-black alley was soon left with only the sound of rain washing away the blood. As for the man who had made the sound, he had been split in two by a silver sword shadow that cut through the night sky. His body fell to the ground with a thud, and his head rolled in the mud like a ball.

“Oh my, oh my, your strength is far inferior to mine. If you had just been a little quieter, there wouldn’t have been so much trouble. Alright, this is what you wanted. Take it.”

The tall Wandering Knight turned around. He grabbed a handful of silver coins from the money pouch hanging from his waist and threw them. In an instant, the clinking of rolling coins echoed in the alley.

Unfortunately, no one could answer him. Lying in the dark alley were only a pile of headless corpses. Such a scene would be horrifying even among the bloodthirsty beastfolk. However, the knight, as if he hadn’t seen it, smacked his lips unhappily.

“Since you are unwilling to take it, I will have to take it myself.”

Saying this, he turned around and bent down to pick up the silver coins he had just thrown one by one. The people he had killed were all desperate men who wanted money more than their lives. According to the laws of the Cold Night, killing such people did not require a trial, so he was not at all worried that he would make Nola unhappy.

He had become a member of the Holy Son Faction. He had lost to Nola.

“Oh? New guests have arrived?”

Picking up the last silver coin from the mud, the knight looked up at the opposite side. Although the rain made his vision extremely poor, he could still see a figure standing five meters away—completely shrouded in a silver cloak, with nothing underneath, like a ghost wearing a tattered cloth.

From the moment this figure stood in the alley, all the darkness within it converged towards her, as if she were the center of the world, making it difficult to look away.

“An undead? Interesting.”

Without any fear, the knight walked straight towards the “ghost.”

And then.

Something suddenly appeared in the ghost’s hand. The knight’s steps stopped. He took a step back, maintaining a defensive posture. Unlike his leisure when facing the local ruffians, this time he did not dare to be careless. He slowly drew the knight’s sword hanging from his waist.

In the sound of the heavy rain, a heart-pounding tension filled the air.

“It seems you have come specifically for me.”

As if in response to his words, the thing in the ghost’s hand gave off a faint light. The rain-soaked blade was as conspicuous as a torch in the dark night, its sharp aura rushing straight at the knight’s face.

The next second.

The sound of footsteps splashing in a puddle reached his ears. He unhesitatingly held his sword diagonally in front of him.

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Clang!!

The wail of clashing blades illuminated the surrounding walls. A force like a dragon’s charge sent a jarring pain through the web of the Wandering Knight’s hand, and the knight’s sword was almost knocked out of his hand. The terrifying sword wind even made his face feel the stinging pain of being hit by a [Wind Blade] head-on.

Even the Holy Son Nola did not have this much strength. What was terrifying was that this seemed to be just the other party’s probing attack.

No—

Before he could finish his praise, he caught another sword coming at his left shoulder.

An enemy who uses dual swords?

He once again swung his sword to block. However, even though the ghost’s blade had not yet touched his, a crisp cracking sound came from his left shoulder. It was as if his entire shoulder had been struck by a heavy hammer, and it instantly caved in.

An indescribable, intense pain instantly spread from his left shoulder throughout his body. His entire left arm quickly went limp, and he was forced back several steps by the immense force. It was only then that the longsword that had been aimed at his left shoulder flashed past where he had just been standing.

A strange attack I’ve never seen before.

Even with his knowledge, he had never seen such a fatal magic. He finally became vigilant. Ignoring the intense pain in his left shoulder, he gradually lowered his center of gravity, and a powerful black airflow rose from behind him.

“It seems you are not just here to play.”

“…”

Still no answer.

“—[Soul Annihilation].”

With a deep voice, the black airflow behind him rushed towards the ghost. In an instant, it was as if the gates of hell had opened. The black airflow turned into countless screaming phantoms in mid-air, their speed so fast that the air let out a sharp whistle.

The screaming black phantoms quickly piled up into a small mountain, burying the ghost within. This was a Sixth-Tier spell. From the moment he had discovered the ghost, he had already been preparing a fatal blow.

This should be enough.

The thought had just appeared in his mind when he suddenly felt a coldness on his right shoulder.

He immediately looked down at his right arm. Then, his non-existent eyes widened to their limit.

His entire right arm had disappeared at some point, as cleanly as the heads of the men he had just cut off.

As for the culprit, he could no longer feel the ghost’s presence. He was the only one left in the entire alley.

I’ve been played.

“Tsk!”

Although he was in a predicament with both arms disabled, the knight was not afraid or worried. He first clicked his tongue unceremoniously, then his shoulders shook. With a rapid consumption of magic power, his severed right arm grew back, and the dent in his left shoulder armor quickly recovered, as if time were reversing.

He didn’t even look at the pile of phantoms—there was surely nothing under there. He turned and left.

“We will meet again, beautiful young lady.”

The elegant voice dissolved into the sound of the pouring rain.