Volume 9, Chapter 50 – Tina’s Crisis

After coming out from the shaft, Yisi headed straight for her mansion. Before running into Lin on the street, she had been planning to go to the Ymir territory to buy some late-night snacks for her companions. Although she had already put the food, along with the paper bags, into her storage, preventing the taste from changing, after such a long time, her waiting companions should have already fallen asleep.

With these thoughts, Yisi used flight magic to bypass the iron gate—soldiers arranged by the Divine Religion were originally stationed here, but due to the war, the Duchy of Chloe had reassigned almost all soldiers near the city walls. Yisi looked up at the main building. In this three-story structure, the lights in the living room were already out. Only Pepe’s room and her own still glowed with a faint yellow magic light.

Setting Pepe aside, the light in my room should be Laxy. Yisi couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

“Huh, thankfully they didn’t wait for me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to face them.”

She had promised to bring back snacks but ended up delaying until dawn. If her companions were still waiting, she would feel too guilty to know what to say. Helping Lin was important, but her companions were equally important; she couldn’t favor one over the other.

Thinking this, Yisi condensed a key-shaped magic blade on her fingertip, preparing to pick the lock. But just then, the main door suddenly opened from the inside.

“Eek!”

“Shh—Mary, aren’t you asleep yet?”

Not expecting Yisi to be standing right outside, Mary, who opened the door, was startled. Yisi quickly covered her mouth. Mary’s eyes widened first, then relaxed after recognizing Yisi in the moonlight. She nodded gently, and Yisi removed her hand.

“Because Master hadn’t returned yet, Miss Camilla asked me to open the main door, in case Master couldn’t get in…”

“…Camilla isn’t asleep either?”

“No. Miss Camilla just finished her bath.”

“I see.”

Yisi tilted her head slightly. Mary’s chestnut hair was also damp; like Camilla, she must have just bathed. The bathroom here wasn’t like the one in Count Pescia’s mansion, which had a huge bath large enough for multiple people. Her companions had to take turns.

Yisi gave a wry smile and took out the paper bags from her storage.

“Sorry, I got delayed on the way and came back late.”

Mary usually went to bed very early, often falling asleep before nine. Still being awake at dawn meant she must have been waiting for her.

“No, no, Master must have encountered something important! Treating injured people, helping those robbed by bandits… If Master abandoned those poor people for our sake, the Goddess would see Master as a cold-hearted demon! Besides, a slave has a duty to wait for their master’s return. If the slave sleeps first, that’s when they should be punished by the master.”

“How many times do I have to say it? You’re not a slave, Mary.” Yisi tapped Mary’s head somewhat forcefully. Mary’s expression instantly crumpled into a pained ‘>_<‘. “Anyway, let’s go inside first.”

“Okay…”

Clutching her head, Mary looked aggrieved and timidly closed the door, following Yisi to the second floor. Her long boots made muffled thuds on the carpeted wooden corridor, illuminated by the dim lights on either side.

“By the way, where’s Camilla? I noticed her room light wasn’t on earlier.”

“She’s in Master’s room. Said since Master hadn’t come back for so long, something must have happened, so she wanted to wait until you returned.”

“Is that so? I understand.” Stopping in front of Mary’s door, Yisi turned around, smiled, and gently stroked Mary’s bath-scented chestnut hair. She handed one of the paper bags to Mary. “These are yours, Mary. Go back to your room and open them.”

“This is…”

“Didn’t you say you were out of honey? You like adding honey to your black tea, right?”

The moment she heard ‘honey,’ a smile bloomed on Mary’s face. Like holding a beloved doll, she hugged the paper bag Yisi gave her tightly.

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“Thank you, Master!”

“Hoh~ If you want to thank me, give me a kiss.”

Saying this, Yisi crouched down slightly, turned her head, and pointed to her cheek. But Mary instantly stiffened, her cute face turning bright red. She clutched the paper bag tighter, her fingers interlaced, fidgeting awkwardly, her gaze lowered, looking flustered and unsure.

“Master… un… unashamed…”

“Eh.”

So I really can’t treat Mary like a child anymore?

Lately, she had increasingly felt that Mary actually thought quite like an adult, whether it was her current reaction or how she saw through but didn’t expose the ring Andrea gave her. If she continued treating Mary like a child, it would seem improper. For a moment, Yisi felt like her daughter had grown up—both gratified and regretful.

Yisi stood up helplessly.

“Hah, my Mary has grown up too. Alright, go back and rest, Mary. I need to go back to my room too.”

“Umm…” Perhaps seeing the look of regret on Yisi’s face, Mary’s already tightly clasped hands clenched even harder. After hesitating for a long time, as if having made up her mind, she quietly raised her head, cautiously observing Yisi’s expression. “But… j-just one… wouldn’t be impossible. But don’t tell Miss Camilla, okay?”

One?

Does she mean my joke about ‘give me a kiss’ just now?

Seeing Mary lift her head, her expression earnest and shy, combined with her petite figure in the white dress, Yisi’s lips curved.

Too cute.

She felt the urge to hug Mary tightly.

But such things were best left to imagination. Age-wise, Mary was already an adult young woman. Although Yisi had no ulterior motives, she still needed some self-awareness.

“Alright, alright, I was just joking. Go back to your room, Mary.”

“Eh…”

“What ‘eh’? Does Mary want to kiss me?”

“N-No! Absolutely didn’t feel disappointed!”

“I know, I know. Go rest now. You can’t even speak clearly anymore.”

That line should belong to a clumsy tsundere character, and Mary clearly had no tsundere traits. Placing her hands on Mary’s shoulders, Yisi turned her around to face her door and pushed her back into her room.

After the door clicked shut, Yisi let out a long sigh.

“Haah, time to go back.”

Just as Mary had said, Camilla was in her room. Laxy was also sitting at the desk as expected. To Yisi’s surprise, Edith was also sitting on her bed, yawning with a look of disinterest. The room was unusually quiet, save for the crackling sound of the fire in the hearth.

“Not just Camilla, even Pepe is here. Aren’t you going to sleep?”

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“Ah, Onee-sama is back.”

“It’s your fault for saying you were going out to buy things and then not returning until this hour. What were you doing? Usually, you’d give a heads-up if you were going to be late.”

Awkwardly handing her coat to Camilla by the door, Yisi walked over to the tea table and sat down in an extremely unladylike posture—right arm draped over the back of the wooden chair, body turned sideways. Looking back at Edith sitting on her pink bed, she smiled wryly.

“Ran into something tricky, so it took a bit longer.”

“My Lord, would you like tea, or this beverage called coffee from the Empire?”

“Just plain water is fine. Drinking those now will keep me awake. Thank you, Laxy.”

Following Laxy, who was heating water with fire magic, Edith frowned, her long white eyebrows knitting together.

“Even you call it tricky? It must be a trouble ordinary people can’t handle. What happened? You don’t look like you’ve been in a fight.”

“I certainly didn’t fight anyone, but I think this is much trickier than fighting.”

Fighting people, she could use various magic to make them lose resistance. But things like heart knots and a sense of responsibility… even magic was powerless against those.

Yisi recounted the events of the evening to Camilla and the others. Considering that revealing everything would worry her companions, Yisi omitted her conversation with Atwood, including the part where she promised him she would free Lin from the curse.

After hearing the whole story, Camilla, sitting beside Yisi with one hand on the tea table, wore a thoughtful expression.

“So, Lin is going to the Empire’s rear tomorrow to cut off their supply line, while Onee-sama stays in the Ducal Capital to protect this city, which currently lacks anyone beyond the hero’s domain?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Hah, when will you ever learn to stop looking for trouble, Yisi? Although the Empire might not launch an offensive before Lin returns, what if they do? Wouldn’t that mean you’d have to go to war with the Empire? What about the reward?” Annoyed by Yisi’s self-inflicted trouble, Edith frowned. “There isn’t no reward, is there?”

“Well…”

She couldn’t very well say the entire Divine Religion was the reward Atwood offered. Otherwise, she’d have to explain her promise to him, making them even more worried.

Shifting her gaze to the ceiling, Yisi laughed, “Ahaha…”

“Something like this is just a casual matter for me. As long as I want, the Imperial army couldn’t even pry a single pebble off the city wall.”

“Yisi, your attitude is too perfunctory. Well, I didn’t expect you could make that stubborn Hero resist the Gospel. I don’t know whether to scold you for looking for trouble or praise you for being worthy of being my fiancée, achieving something ordinary people couldn’t.”

“Wait, Onee-sama, the reward the Divine Religion offered wasn’t giving Lin to you, was it?”

“No, no, no, absolutely not.”

Camilla’s questioning expression made Yisi quickly wave her hands. She had no special feelings for Lin, not even an ambiguous relationship. They could only be considered friends she could talk to.

But even though Yisi emphasized this, Camilla still looked unconvinced, her expression mixed with a hint of resentment causing Yisi a headache—she truly had no such thoughts about Lin.

Compared to Camilla’s resentment, Edith just wore an unreadable smile, her rather forceful aura making Yisi feel Edith definitely had other ideas.

“So then, is there anything we can help with?”

“A place where help is needed… there actually is one.”

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In fact, the reason she had told them everything in detail was precisely because she needed to ask something of them.

“What is it?”

“I need to go to the Empire soon. While I’m away, I need Pepe and Camilla to watch the Ducal Capital for me. If the Empire launches an offensive, crush this crystal immediately. I will appear via teleportation where the crystal is crushed.”

As her voice fell, Yisi placed a transparent crystal on the table. It was slightly different from the teleportation crystal she had given Andrea. Andrea’s could teleport her and everyone within a hundred meters to Yisi’s side, while this one on the table could teleport Yisi back to the crystal’s location.

Edith walked solemnly to the table, took the fingernail-sized teleportation crystal from Camilla’s hand, and observed it against the goose-yellow lamplight.

“A directional teleportation crystal… A rare item. What are you going to the Empire for? Let me say this first: even if you are strong, I won’t allow you to take risks. The strength the Empire has shown so far is likely just the tip of the iceberg. If you act rashly and do something foolish like assassinating the Emperor… getting injured would be one thing, but if you don’t come back, I don’t think Hyurent of the Blood Clan or the Ymir territory will let it slide. You must always remember your status.”

“I’m not going to assassinate the Emperor! When have you ever seen me do things that harm life, Pepe?”

She was just going to bring Red and Purple out. It wouldn’t be long before their assassination attempt. She had to follow them as closely as possible and bring them back to the Duchy of Chloe when their mission ended—regardless of success or failure, they couldn’t possibly escape the Imperial Palace alive on their own.

Besides that, she also needed to give the Empire a show of force as Viel, to curb their arrogance. Since coming to this world, many incidents she encountered involved the Empire. Currently, the Empire’s hands reached towards both the Hels Kingdom and the Blood Clan, and now they were pushing towards the Duchy of Chloe. When discussing with Atwood earlier, he had said the declaration of war against the Duchy was just the beginning. The Norta Empire had completed the process of reclaiming power from the nobles. With power highly centralized now, the Empire’s true intention was to annex all other countries, becoming a nation truly worthy of the name ‘Empire’ in every sense.

Eyes narrowed to slits, Edith’s beautiful azure eyes were hidden beneath her long white lashes.

That expression, she must be doubting me.

Yisi felt somewhat exasperated.

“Then… will Pepe go with me?”

“Before you speak, take your hand off my hair. The ends are getting tangled.”

Raising an eyebrow, Edith turned her head, indicating for Yisi to look under the table—unconsciously, Yisi’s fingers, resting under the table, were twirling Pepe’s hip-length white hair.

“Uh…”

Like a child caught doing something wrong, Yisi froze. This was just an unconscious action. Pepe’s white hair was too smooth, and combined with the fragrance from her recent bath and the cool touch of the strands, she couldn’t help herself.

“Hehe… Never mind. It’s just another expression of charm. You go to the Empire. I’ll stay in the Ducal Capital.”

“Are you worried about Refina?”

“Even if I’m not here, Refina can take care of herself. In terms of daily life, Refina is much more reliable than you.” Crossing her left arm over her chest, Edith propped her head with her right hand, a hint of fighting spirit in her slightly raised lips. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen real blood. I want to meet the Imperial soldiers. I hear the Empire has a unit called Griffin Knights. I wonder how they compare in combat strength to the Pescia territory’s Wyvern Riders.”

So it’s for battle…

Although she found Pepe’s preference for bloodshed quite deplorable, war inevitably involved bloodshed. Unlike the peaceful era she came from, this was another world fraught with danger. It was understandable for her to restrain herself with Earth’s rules, but applying Earth’s standards to Pepe would just seem foolish. Pepe not slaughtering innocents was already a remarkable change.

“What about Camilla?”

“I need to supervise Onee-sama.”

Camilla said with a straight face.

She just wants to stay with me…

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But one more person wasn’t a burden. Yisi smiled and waved her hand.

“Alright, alright. Then it’s decided. Tomorrow, Pepe stays in the capital with the teleportation crystal. Camilla and I go to the Empire. Laxy, I leave Mary, Tiffany, and Refina’s safety to you. If you encounter danger you can’t handle, head east immediately to the Ymir territory.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

Whoosh—

Without warning, an invisible wave of magic power swept past Yisi. The instant she sensed it, Yisi’s expression changed drastically. She shot up from her seat.

“Everyone get back! [Seraph’s Lament].”

Just as Laxy was bowing to Yisi, Yisi used [Spatial Hand] to pull Camilla, Edith, and Laxy into her embrace. Then, her free right hand aimed at the window. A brilliant shield, like a parasol, appeared before them. Subsequently, the large French window exploded with a shattering sound.

BANG!

A full three seconds passed after the shattering sound. Amidst the scattered glass, everyone gradually reacted, breaking free from Yisi’s released [Spatial Hand].

“Yisi, what happened?”

“Enemy attack?”

“An enemy attack wouldn’t be just this level. Besides, the barrier I set up outside the room should have detected—No…”

Her words stopped abruptly. Laxy’s gaze fell on the extra figure on the floor. It was a girl, appearing less than ten human years old, covered in wounds big and small, her face smeared with blood and dirt. The reason ‘human’ was emphasized was because this girl had a pair of black horns on her head.

Demon.

The word flashed through her mind.

But why would a demon appear here?

While Laxy pondered, Yisi had already rushed to the demon girl who had collapsed from weakness. Her brow furrowed with anxiety and concern, she lifted the girl from the glass-strewn floor. Due to her severe injuries, the girl was limp like a doll, offering no resistance, her hands hanging limply, eyes shut tight.

“Tina? Why are you here? How did you end up like this? Where are Hetty and Sandra? Didn’t they protect you?”

Instantly, various conjectures flashed through her mind. Tina was a Demon Lord with strength exceeding level 100. According to the continent’s average strength, no one should be able to injure her to this extent. Moreover, judging from the residual magic traces near her heart and abdomen, these areas had been pierced multiple times. It was only due to the Demon Lord’s powerful regenerative ability that Tina hadn’t died, managing to flee all the way here.

She definitely went through a brutal battle.

[Third Form Awakening].

Subconsciously, Yisi activated her third form. At the same time, she expanded her [Omniscient Map] to its maximum range, searching for anyone who might harm Tina. But the result showed no suspicious creatures.

Yisi could only look again at Tina cradled in her arms—her HP was already below 5%.

“Hey, Tina? Tina? Are you still awake? Can your body accept dark-type healing magic?”

Stirred awake by Yisi’s shaking, Tina, head lolling weakly, managed to open her eyes. Upon seeing Yisi’s form, her eyes, filled with bewilderment and helplessness, first widened, then trembled, slowly welling up with nearly dried tears.

“Ou… Please… Save me…”

Her voice was exceptionally weak. Before Yisi could clearly hear what Tina said, Tina’s body went completely limp, like a string-cut kite.