Volume 3, Chapter 60 – Investigation

“No? You! You lied to me!”

Looking at the dragon-horned girl before him with her kind smile, Marquis Coveport’s eyes were filled with shock and fury. The resentment and unwillingness in his gaze seemed enough to transform into countless blades to tear the dragon-horned girl into pieces, yet as his blood and life force continuously drained away, Marquis Coveport had already lost the ability to strike back. Since his neck had been pierced through by a dagger, this Marquis who was famous across the region was even stripped of the ability to shout a few curses.

Watching the hysterical appearance of the purple-haired man before her, little Xizhi tilted her head playfully. After confirming that Lady Yumo had already left the dungeon, the dragon-horned girl expressed her ‘gratitude’ to the man before her from the bottom of her heart: “Thank you for your assistance, Lord Marquis Coveport~”

Indeed, the person who had made Marquis Coveport say those things earlier was exactly little Xizhi, and even the person who gave Ed the chance to escape was also Xizhi. Her purpose was simple: to further lower Lady Yumo’s favorability toward the Chosen Son. She wanted to reduce the obstacles from Lady Yumo’s side as much as possible when they moved against him later. Lady Yumo liked children, and even if the Abyssal Demons in the Deepwinter Forest came into conflict with humans, they would avoid involving children whenever possible.

Since that was the case, she would let Xue Tian’ao’s people dance frantically across that red line. To ensure Yumo believed Marquis Coveport’s words and did not see through any inconsistencies in his expressions, Xizhi even had to beat Marquis Coveport first, pummeling his face beyond recognition so that Lady Yumo could not see the truth through his expressions.

‘Heehee~’

Thinking of this, Xizhi couldn’t help but smile triumphantly. Subsequently, the leader of the Nightingale organization ignored Marquis Coveport’s gaze of impotent rage. After politely leaving a wound the size of a bowl’s mouth on his neck, she left the dungeon to follow Lady Yumo’s footsteps.

As Xizhi transformed into a dark shadow and swept the children out of the dungeon, the Blackrose Knights remaining inside no longer showed any mercy. They drew their swords and cut down the white-robed mages without a word. In an instant, blood splattered everywhere, and a thick scent of iron filled the entire dungeon.

Outside the dungeon, within Marquis Coveport’s Mansion, numerous guards of the Marquis Mansion were currently ‘sleeping’ on the ground, enjoying the bright midday sun. Among the scattered bodies, a white-haired young boy stood anxiously outside a small shack, waiting for news from the black-haired elder sister.

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Facts proved that the boy’s initial choice was correct; that black-haired sister was indeed a trustworthy existence.

In the next moment, with a “boom” and a powerful surge of azure battle aura, the shack in front of the boy, the one covering the dungeon, was instantly reduced to nothingness under the riot of blue light. Then, under Ed’s expectant and excited gaze, black-armored knights holding sharp swords slowly emerged onto the ground. Following these knights were numerous children dressed in tattered clothes, walking out from the mire of despair.

As the bright sunlight shone upon these children again after many days, the exhausted children couldn’t help but shed tears of excitement. Among them, a white-haired, brown-eyed little girl was particularly eye-catching. Her carved-from-jade appearance stood out from the crowd, and she was being carried in the arms of a Blackrose Knight. Upon seeing the girl, Ed immediately wept with joy, ignoring his own injuries as he ran toward her.

“Aishe! It’s so good that you’re okay!”

“Brother?! Brother, waaaaaah!”

The white-haired girl, Aishe, was equally excited to see the brother she had been separated from for days, tears streaming down from her cute eyes. The burly knight holding the girl looked rough and ferocious, but he seemed to have a gentle heart, tactfully setting the girl down. Then, as expected, the two siblings who had nearly gone to the yellow springs together hugged each other tightly. For a moment, the scene was quite heartwarming.

…

Walking slowly out from behind, Yumo naturally took in this scene. However, she didn’t do anything, simply crossing her arms over her chest and silently watching the reunion of the siblings.

At this time, the elderly butler Saibok, who had less physical strength, finally leaned on his cane and barely defeated the ‘stairs’ to arrive at Yumo’s side. After glancing at Ed, Aishe, and the group of homeless children nearby, Saibok looked at the black-haired girl beside him with feigned confusion.

“Lady Yumo, how do you plan to handle these children?”

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The reason he feigned confusion was because Saibok had already anticipated Lady Yumo’s thoughts. Regarding children, especially those without parents to care for them, Lady Yumo could never just leave them be. Otherwise, that strange scene back in the Deepwinter Forest, where over thirty children huddled together in the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons to spend the night, would never have happened.

Just as Saibok expected, Yumo spoke slowly after a moment of silence. “I’ll have to trouble you to do the same as before and take these children back to the Blackrose Family to be cared for.”

“Understood, Lady Yumo. We will take good care of these children,” Saibok replied respectfully.

“Mhm.”

After a faint response, Yumo looked with a solemn expression at the dungeon entrance behind her and the Marquis Mansion that had been left riddled with holes by Qiu Mingtong.

“Little Sai.”

“Yes, Lady Yumo. Are there any other instructions?”

“How do you plan to handle this place? The Blackrose Family attacked the residence of a Marquis. I’m afraid this will cause diplomatic problems. I… it seems I was a bit reckless just now…”

A hint of guilt inadvertently entered Yumo’s tone. To this, Saibok hurriedly shook his head in denial. “No, no, no, Lady Yumo, please don’t say that. The action was proposed by us. As for diplomatic issues or anything of the sort, you don’t have to worry at all.”

“Oh?” Seeing Saibok’s confident expression, Yumo raised an eyebrow curiously. “Don’t have to worry at all?”

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“That’s right~ Lady Yumo~”

Before Saibok could answer, a cute dragon-horned girl fluttered her dragon wings and flew excitedly to Yumo’s side. Almost everyone in the Blackrose Family shared a common trait: their state when beside Yumo was completely different from when they were away from her. Xizhi, who was usually withdrawn under the sun, instantly turned into a lively, spoiled little girl in front of Yumo.

Looking at this child who was clearly over forty years old but still acted like a little girl, Yumo revealed a helpless, doting smile. “Why do you say that? Why so confident?”

“Because we’ve done this kind of thing many times before!” Xizhi said boastfully.

“Hm? Many times?”

Hearing this, Xizhi hurriedly shook her head. “Eh? No, no, no. I mean, we’ve done it many times during practice! This field exercise will definitely be okay!”

As soon as she finished speaking, under the stunned gazes of many, a terrifying pillar of fire erupted from the ground not far behind Xizhi and shot straight into the sky. With an earth-shaking explosion, a scorching wave of air whistled in all directions, instantly dispelling the winter chill. Under the devastation of the flames, everything in the dungeon was turned to ash.

With the fire at her back, Xizhi smiled and pressed her hands together, tilting her head as she looked at Yumo as if seeking credit. “Heehee, Lady Yumo, this way no one will know what happened here~ This dungeon was destroyed by a magic power leak caused by operational errors of the internal staff~ No one will know we did it. Please rest easy, Lady Yumo~”

“Mhm, well done.”

As she spoke, Yumo smiled and patted Xizhi’s head. The dragon-horned girl closed her eyes contentedly, enjoying Yumo’s touch. “Heehee~”

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After satisfying the little girl’s needs, Yumo looked at the old butler again. “Little Sai.”

“Yes, Lady Yumo.”

“Xue Tian’ao sent me an invitation before, didn’t he?”

“Yes, Lady Yumo… Have you… made a decision?”

“Mhm, I’ll accept the invitation. I happen to want to see that fellow again.”

As she spoke, Yumo looked thoughtfully toward the location of the Sky Dome’s Imperial City. “Oh, right, Little Sai.”

“Any other instructions, Lady Yumo?”

“Help me look into him carefully. See what else this Lord Chosen Son has been doing in private.”

Hearing this, the corners of Saibok’s mouth curled up imperceptibly. “Understood, Lady Yumo. we guarantee that everything will be investigated thoroughly.”