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Chapter Fifty: What’s It Mean to Not Make a Ruckus

“You… don’t seem like a vicious person. With these skills, why not serve this palace? You must have seen the current situation in our country—the chances for your employer are probably slim, or why would they keep sending assassins?”

As she spoke to stabilize the mysterious girl before her, Liliya slowly retreated, maintaining a seemingly relaxed yet battle-ready posture.

“If so, I can overlook your trespass this once.”

“Pfft.”

The black-haired girl in the white robe seemed to find something particularly amusing, suddenly bursting into laughter while clutching her stomach. Her antics had numerous flaws, and she appeared completely unguarded before Liliya, the assassination target.

What in the world is she here for?

Princess Liliya was increasingly confused.

“Hahahaha… you’re actually trying to persuade me to surrender? What kind of idiot would do that at a time like this… Whoa!”

Just as the girl was mid-sentence, the bedroom door suddenly burst open with a loud bang. A sharp arrow, wreathed in scarlet flames, shot in from outside, heading straight for the bizarre assassin’s head!

The black-haired girl was taken by surprise, but her performance didn’t mirror her shock; she casually lowered her red staff and swatted the legendary archer’s charged arrow to the ground as if brushing away a bug.

“What the heck? Why do you always pop out and scare me like this? And that arrow was meant to kill me, right? That’s the second time, Miss Hua. You always act so carelessly, and someday it might just land you in serious trouble. Not everyone is as kind-hearted as I am~”

The girl tilted her head, giving Miss Hua, who had already appeared like a shadow beside the princess, a look that was part smile, part challenge. However, Hua paid no attention to her strange words; her face was cold, and she’d already nocked another glimmering arrow onto her short bow.

“Protect the princess!”

With a clatter, a dozen shadowy guards rushed in from outside, surrounding the unexpected intruder. Leading them was Emily, the vice-captain under Liliya.

These guards were elite protectors of the princess—each a top-tier warrior with at least Earth-level strength. Though not numerous, their teamwork alongside the legendary Miss Fiery Blossom and Liliya’s own skills would likely handle even a true legend without a hitch.

“Are you alright, Your Highness?”

Naturally, Hua wouldn’t call the princess by name in front of others; they still recognized the hierarchy.

“I’m fine; this person… doesn’t seem to have strong hostility and hasn’t attacked me directly, which is a bit strange.”

“No, she’s really strong—unreasonably strong. Don’t lower your guard, Your Highness. Call that mouse over here.”

Hua kept her eyes trained on the black-haired girl, her gaze narrowing.

Receiving the full force of her first strike from Miss Fiery Blossom wasn’t something an ordinary legend could do—this person before them might be something beyond a legend.

If that’s the case, just one legend plus a bunch of Earth-tier warriors wouldn’t be enough; the more battle power, the better.

But where did this unknown powerhouse come from?

“Alright, I’ll just…”

“Hey, hey, hey! Wait a minute, okay? Enough with the theatrics; let’s drop the act.”

Seeing that Liliya was serious about calling for reinforcements, Hua and the guards were almost ready to fight. The black-haired girl could no longer maintain her fierce expression; she frantically waved her hands and pressed something against her face, removing a completely transparent mask.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

“Vilyric?”

Liliya blinked, both happy and puzzled, wearing a look of confusion.

Even though the person before her had the same appearance, body shape, hair color, and outfit, Liliya suddenly realized her identity. Why did a stranger become the very person she had been longing for?

No, wait—she had always shown her original appearance; it was her who failed to connect this outer appearance with the corresponding identity.

Is… it the effect of that mask?

Such a mysterious method truly suits Vilyric.

But…

“Are you really Vilyric? Sorry about what just happened, I couldn’t figure it out right away, but if it is you, you’d know many of our secrets, right?”

Seeing the princess being overly cautious yet eager to get closer, the priestess couldn’t help but grin slightly, thinking of something amusing, and casually mentioned,

“Well… the Ascension Box I gave you before—make sure you’re still wearing it. Its enhancement effect should’ve reached its limit by now. And about its immunity, Liliya can’t rely on that too heavily; it’s not an absolute invincibility and has limits based on experience—my full Pseudo-God strike should be able to break through it.”

“Also, the glasses I lent you should be returned by now; it’s been a while, and you should have finished reading that book. I never said they were a gift, you know~”

In front of the surrounding shadow guards, Vilyric didn’t mention the more secretive skill system of [Illusory World] or the divine artifact [Mimetic Tree of Life], but this was enough to affirm her identity.

After all, many things were not particularly clear even to Hua, let alone to a stranger.

“Is it really you…?”

A clear excitement crossed Liliya’s bright eyes, though she had the sense to steer clear of attracting unnecessary attention; she waved her hand to signal the guards to lower their guard.

Once the bewildered Emily left with her team, closing the door behind her, Liliya excitedly dashed into Vilyric’s arms, their forms colliding in a rather ridiculous manner.

This caught Vilyric off-guard, making her expression awkward while Liliya, buried in her embrace, remained blissfully unaware.

“Vilyric, you actually came to find me! I’ve been waiting for you, and you had to go and take a detour after entering town? Am I not more appealing than all those dull and shabby things out there?”

Uh, what exactly do you mean by “dull and shabby”?

“Well, it’s not that urgent, and I figured you’d be busy during the day, so I didn’t want to interrupt you. Don’t worry, don’t worry.”

Of course, part of it was actually not wanting to get involved in strange trouble, but in front of the princess, Vilyric had to say the nice things.

“Hmph… did you just now not hear anything strange?”

The blue-haired beauty suddenly blushed, lowering her head, her voice slightly faltering.

“Hmm? No, not at all. Did you say something just now?”

Vilyric had only recently entered Liliya’s chamber, hearing her mumbling about something involving a man and a woman as she lay on the table, but she had forgotten that she was still wearing the [Cognitive Barrier Mask].

“N-no, nothing! I didn’t say anything!”

Liliya seemed to relax but also appeared somewhat disappointed for some reason.

“?”

Women’s hearts are truly hard to understand, Vilyric thought to herself.

As they fell into an odd awkwardness, Hua bluntly asked without any intention of avoiding the topic.

“What was that technique just now? It’s unbelievable; I totally couldn’t connect you to Vilyric. It was like some kind of perception was blocked by a special method.”

Hesitating for a moment as she confirmed her suspicion, Hua finally tentatively inquired,

“Is it a law?”

“Oh, that? It should be considered one, I guess?”

Vilyric casually explained a bit about the [Cognitive Barrier Mask]’s effect, although she herself wasn’t quite sure what they called laws were or how to determine them.

In any case, after a few simple exchanges, the three of them gradually rekindled their camaraderie, sharing experiences from the time they had been apart.

Liliya and Hua were essentially the only people Vilyric could engage with on equal footing in this world; others, having witnessed her power, treated her with varying degrees of respect.

Vilyric wasn’t clear on why Liliya and Hua could maintain their composure, but it was certainly not a bad thing.

After all, the priestess had once been human; she still needed a few friends, if not completely intimate companions or kin, at least someone she could talk to normally.

This way, she could retain some aspects of her past self, avoiding becoming something entirely different.

However, this mode of interaction led to an issue.

“Vilyric, about that incident the other night—the one that erupted and destroyed the entire Forgotten Land—that was your doing, wasn’t it? Do you know the rumors going around the kingdom? Liliya has been drowning in work trying to handle all this chaos!”

Miss Fiery Blossom tilted her head impassively, a few dark lines appearing on her forehead.

“I distinctly remember telling you before we parted at Wanku Fortress to ‘not make too much of a ruckus.'”

“Uh oh…”

The smile on the priestess’s face froze.