Volume 3, Chapter 22 – Nightingale

As the leading black-robed figure lowered the giant hammer and knelt before the pink-haired girl, the ghostly figures around them dispelled their disguises, revealing the graceful and enviable figures hidden beneath their black trench coats. Then, these young female assassins gathered around the outside of the prison carriage and knelt before the pink-haired girl in unison.

The killing intent and chill surrounding these people vanished instantly upon reaching the pink-haired girl, replaced by a sense of deep kindness and even a slight hint of… acting cute? Regardless, this sudden turn of events naturally caused Duo’er and the other maids to wear expressions of utter bewilderment as ten eyes met in a five-way stare of confusion.

What was going on?

‘Eh?!’

‘Am I… am I having hallucinations?’

Seeing this group of murderous beings, who had easily defeated the Royal Knight Corps, suddenly kneeling before her young lady, Duo’er couldn’t help but pinch her own thigh hard. Under the sharp pain, Duo’er realized she wasn’t dreaming. These people were truly kneeling before her young lady with such reverence.

The question was, who were they? Were they reinforcements sent by other nobles in Windward City? But so many female assassins? There didn’t seem to be such a group within Windward City. Moreover, these female assassins had defeated the Royal Knights so easily!

‘Who exactly were they?’

For a moment, countless questions flooded Duo’er’s mind, causing the little maids’ brains to nearly stall. However, the most confusing thing for Duo’er among all the questions was the way the black-robed figure had addressed her lady.

‘Lady Yumo?’

Was that the young lady’s name during her life as a drifter? Were these people someone she used to know?

In her confusion, Duo’er slowly turned her head and looked at the pink-haired girl she had been “protecting” behind her with a gaze filled with shock and bewilderment.

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“Miss Xia’er, what… what exactly is going on?” Duo’er couldn’t help but ask.

The other maids nearby were the same, casting their puzzled gazes toward Yumo.

In response, Yumo gave a faint smile and reached out to pat Duo’er’s head with a slightly apologetic look. “Sorry, mmm, I’ll explain it to you all later. It’s a bit hard to explain clearly right now.”

“Miss… Miss?” Looking at the pink-haired girl whose expression was completely different from usual, Duo’er couldn’t help but look startled. Before Duo’er could think further or ask more questions, several Blood Butterflies appeared before her at some unknown time.

“Huh?” Along with the girl’s soft exclamation, a pale golden powder drifted down from the Blood Butterflies.

Upon contact with the sleep powder, an intense drowsiness suddenly rushed into her brain, causing Duo’er’s consciousness to blur. “Miss… I, what is…?”

After a brief struggle, Duo’er fell into a deep sleep under Yumo’s slightly guilty gaze. The other maids beside her soon fell into a sweet slumber as well…

Once she had dealt with those around her, a crimson light rippled around Yumo. Surrounded by countless Blood Butterflies, Yumo’s body decomposed and reshaped, transforming back into her usual form as a stunning black-haired girl. The black formal dress constructed from memory fibers directly adhered to her delicate body.

Having deactivated her camouflage mode, Yumo looked with a smile at the petite figure kneeling before her. “Little Tong, how many times have I said you don’t need to be so formal in front of me? Get up already…”

Hearing this, the black-robed figure hesitated for a moment before slowly standing up and removing the hood that concealed her face, revealing the exquisite features underneath. She had charming long hair with a pink-to-white gradient, with a few strands framing her face to add a touch of gentleness. Her brows were like crescent moons, and her golden eyes were as clear as autumn water and as bright as stars. Coupled with her slightly chubby, soft-looking cheeks, she was quite adorable.

This charming young girl was Qiu Mingtong, who had come here to “rescue” her under the instructions of the Blackrose Duke. In front of Yumo, the killing intent on Qiu Mingtong’s face vanished instantly, and her usual decisiveness in battle was nowhere to be found. Qiu Mingtong immediately became a cute little girl and lowered her head guiltily. “I’m sorry, Lady Yumo. We arrived late and let you suffer…”

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As she spoke, Qiu Mingtong shot a fierce glare at Abik, who was lying on the ground with a female assassin stepping on his head.

Yumo smiled nonchalantly and reached out to rub Qiu Mingtong’s head. “Oh, what are you thinking? What could they possibly do to me? Even if you hadn’t come, I planned to teach these knights a lesson using my own methods. But since you’re here, you’ve saved me a lot of trouble. Oh, right…”

Seeming to sense something, Yumo looked up happily toward the dark forest nearby. “Also, Xizhi actually came too? It’s been a long time~”

Yumo waved cheerfully toward the woods.

A moment later, accompanied by a ripple of orange-red light, a black-haired girl with dragon horns on her head stepped slowly into view. It was Xizhi, the leader of the Nightingale Organization. At this moment, Xizhi was dragging three Royal Knights who had been rendered unconscious by her.

Having spent years observing Xiao, Xizhi had always acted cautiously. To ensure the smooth completion of the mission, while the Nightingale assassins and Qiu Mingtong dealt with the Royal Knights, Xizhi was responsible for monitoring the surrounding situation and preventing any of the knights from escaping or using a communication magic stone to call for help. The three men in her hands were caught while trying to retreat for reinforcements.

Toward these pieces of trash who dared to insult Lady Yumo, Xizhi wished she could just grind them into ashes and scatter them to the winds! However, since this was a covert operation and it was best not to alert the main forces in the areas surrounding the canyon, Xizhi suppressed her killing intent. After all, if these Royal Knights died, their soul gems would shatter, and the seventh tier powerhouse ahead would notice the anomaly.

Even though it would be a trivial matter for Lady Yumo to deal with those seventh tier powerhouses, Xizhi, as a subordinate, was still unwilling to let Yumo take action. That would be too humiliating for them.

However, upon hearing Yumo’s call, Xizhi immediately stopped pondering these issues and threw the unconscious knights into a pile of rubbish like trash, rushing to Yumo’s side in a flash!

“Lady Yumo, it’s been a long time!” Xizhi said with excitement. She lowered her head obediently, enjoying Yumo’s affection. In truth, Xizhi currently wished she were several decades younger so she would have the chance to keep acting spoiled in Lady Yumo’s arms~

‘Lady Yumo in her human form~ I want to nuzzle her so much~’

Although her mind was filled with such thoughts, Xizhi remained serious on the surface. “Lady Yumo, are you alright? Did those damn knights bully you?”

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“Sigh, what are you thinking…” Yumo shook her head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry at Xizhi asking the same question again. She felt that sometimes these children treated her like a child instead, or like a fragile treasure that needed to be protected. Really, it wasn’t like they didn’t know her strength. Even if she just lay flat on the ground and let these Royal Knights attack her, they wouldn’t be able to break through her defense…

“Sigh, it’s fine, I’m perfectly okay. No need to… Forget it, let’s not talk about this anymore.” As she spoke, Yumo’s gaze slowly drifted toward the dozens of beautiful young women kneeling near the prison carriage. Looking at the bird-shaped crests outlined by red stripes on their belts, Yumo couldn’t help but show a curious look. “Speaking of which, who are these children?”

“Oh! Them!” Hearing Yumo’s question, Xizhi’s face lit up with excitement, and she gave a bright smile like a child showing off her achievements. “They are members of the Nightingale Organization! They were sponsored by the Duke ten or so…? Wait?!”

Halfway through her sentence, Qiu Mingtong suddenly wore a look of anxiety and signaled frantically to Xizhi behind Yumo’s back. In fact, Xizhi had already realized it without Qiu Mingtong’s reminder. Seeing Lady Yumo after so long had made her too excited, and she had almost let the truth slip…

Fortunately, the experienced Xizhi immediately pretended to have bitten her tongue in her excitement. After stuttering for a moment, she continued, “They are the organization responsible for gathering intelligence that Saibok mentioned to you, Lady Yumo, which was established a few years ago!”

“Oh?” Hearing this, Yumo observed the young girls around her with great interest. Looking closely, Yumo was surprised to find that some of these girls were actually the same children from the Deepwinter Forest. However, because girls change so much as they grow up and they were wearing veils, Yumo hadn’t realized it immediately. “But it’s only been a few years, and they’re already this well-trained? They even handled the Royal Knights so easily? That’s quite impressive!”

‘And intelligence personnel? Are they always this martially adept?’ Yumo couldn’t help but complain inwardly.

“Heehee (♡˙︶˙♡)”

Hearing Yumo’s praise, Xizhi laughed happily, her heart filled with excitement. But alongside the joy, Xizhi felt more of a sense of relief. She even let out a long breath in her heart.

‘Damn! That was close, I almost blew our cover…’

One must know that the Blackrose Family had only told Lady Yumo about their intention to build an intelligence network in recent years. Before that? In order to legitimately hide information about the “Main Character Group” from Yumo by pretending they hadn’t found anything, the Duke had never revealed the existence of the Nightingale Organization to her.

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If the organization had been established but failed to produce results for a long time, it might have disappointed Lady Yumo. So, they had been using the unrest in the southeastern Sadik Empire as an excuse to “delay” the establishment of the intelligence network. It was only in these last few years that the Duke changed the plan and informed Yumo of the Nightingale’s existence.

However, no matter what, the fact that this organization had been established over ten years ago and had been secretly gathering intelligence behind Yumo’s back, stirring up trouble in various countries to undermine human unity while assassinating “protagonists”, was something Lady Yumo could never be allowed to know! They could never let Lady Yumo realize they had been deceiving her!

Thus, Xizhi put on a proud smile. “Yes, Lady Yumo! Everyone has been working their hardest to become top-tier intelligence agents!”

“Is that so? Good, good. Mmm, everyone has worked hard. But Xizhi, didn’t Qiu Mingtong say you were on a mission in the Red Lotus Leaf Empire? Why did you suddenly come back? Surely it wasn’t just to ‘rescue’ me?”

“Ah, no. It’s mostly because I wanted to see you, Lady Yumo, heehee~ There’s also another reason, which is that we received new instructions from the Duke.”

“Instructions? About what?”

“It’s a bit complicated. Anyway…” Glancing at the unconscious Royal Knights scattered around and the messy camp, Xizhi spoke slowly, “Lady Yumo, let’s talk about this later. Let’s leave here first, and I’ll explain it to you in detail. If that Knight Commander nearby notices something, it might be a bit troublesome.”

“Mmm, alright.” Yumo nodded slightly.

“Oh, right, Lady Yumo, what do you plan to do with these people?” Xizhi asked curiously, looking at the unconscious maids beside Yumo.

“Them…” Looking at the unconscious Duo’er and the others, and thinking about how these maids had protected her, the fake young lady, Yumo sighed helplessly. “Take them back and look after them well.”

“Yes, Lady Yumo.”