Chapter 96: The Meaning of Loyalty

“Oh, nothing to disclose, huh~”

Though she faced such relentless resistance, Miss Vilyric didn’t get angry. Instead, she seemed to confirm something thoroughly and chuckled lightly a few times before taking out a document from her 【backpack】 right in front of him.

“Captain Marcelo, I know you want to hide something, but that’s pointless. I’ve told you before, the information I possess is far beyond what you can imagine… I wasn’t just talking nonsense.”

The girl casually tossed the document onto the Bear-Human, who stared at it in confusion. Seeing Vilyric gesture with her eyes again, he awkwardly raised his hand to unfold it.

“?!”

But after just a moment of observing, the confusion on Marcelo’s face turned to shock and even horror, as he completely lost his usual calm composure for the first time.

“Th-this is impossible! How could it possibly land in the hands of an adventurer like you? This is… this is…”

With a smile that seemed to mock someone, the girl raised her fingertip, and the document in Marcelo’s hands flew back to Vilyric’s grip. She squatted down, leisurely locking eyes with the veteran soldier.

“Understand now? There’s no such thing as a secret that doesn’t get out. The secret you desperately want to protect is merely a bargaining chip for some people.”

“It was just an experiment from the start. Success is naturally the best outcome, but even in failure, they could swiftly cut you loose, throw you abandoned pawns under the bus, drain the last bit of usefulness from you, and destroy the evidence.”

“Your beliefs, your morals, your loyalty… they actually aren’t worth a dime, soldier.”

As if completely enraged by her frivolous words, Marcelo widened his singular eye, and the scarred face twisted in a fearsome manner, his voice hoarse from lung injury, resembling the desperate cry of a dying beast.

“What do you know! I am a soldier!!! A soldier’s duty is…”

Before he could finish, the Priestess impatiently waved a hand to interrupt him.

“Uh-huh, uh-huh, I don’t get it, I’m shallow, okay? Frankly, I couldn’t care less who you’re willing to serve. After all, I’m just a small girl, not at all as noble as you. I only say these things to see your reaction, just confirming my assumptions.”

“Look at you; the answer seems pretty clear now.”

“What? You…”

The Bear-Human faltered slightly, as if a filled-down blow had landed nowhere, and soon he bitterly fell into despair.

“Alright, alright, I lose. So… now that you know the secret, what do you plan to do next? Expose the truth?”

“Expose? Hahahaha~”

As if she heard the most ridiculous joke, the black-haired girl couldn’t help but cover her mouth and chuckle.

“Hey, hey, you really are adorably naive, Uncle. No wonder you were sold out and still helped count the money! Who are you going to report this to? The Royal Family of the Ost Empire? Or your Prosecutor’s Office? Or perhaps the so-called public?”

“This is the Ost Empire, where royal authority reigns supreme. Don’t say I only have these incomplete pieces of evidence and can’t accuse certain guys; even if I had ironclad proof, it’d just lead to making a big deal small and a small deal disappear. Even if it’s exposed, it would likely just result in a few inconsequential folks getting hurt.”

“Let’s face it, with this level of incident, you don’t really think it can stay hidden from the real upper echelons, do you?”

Marcelo’s resolute pupils twitched slightly, instantly understanding the black-haired girl’s meaning.

“You mean… nonsense! The royal family could never…”

“Ah, don’t be in such a hurry. I’m just inferring based on normal logic. But even if they didn’t participate directly, I’d wager they took a neglectful or bystanding attitude; otherwise, how could it develop to this extent in such a short time? You underestimate the royal family’s control over the empire too much.”

Clearly, even some newly appointed queens can do far better than this, not to mention the imperial power that has been entrenched for over a hundred years.

Standing up and brushing herself off, the girl straightened her immaculate white robe and returned to an unfazed expression.

“Alright, enough chit-chat. Next, I want to ask you one last question. I’ll emphasize again, answer honestly, or else I might have to resort to… special measures~”

……

By the time Enrique and the others dealt with the remaining enemies in the village and found their way to the nearby area with the reinforcements, Marcelo was lying in a pit like a defeated salted fish, unconscious. Only Someone (Black-haired Girl) remained completely unharmed, leaning against a tree with an expression of particular boredom, gazing up at the star-lit night sky as if she were pondering something.

“Oh, you all came! How’s the situation?”

Noticing the group coming from the direction of the village, Vilyric turned her head back, grinning as she greeted them.

“The entire village has fallen into chaos; they were severely eroded by that force… but it’s all under control now. There shouldn’t be any issues for the time being.”

Describing the situation somewhat solemnly, Enrique quietly stole a glance at the fully defeated Bear-Human, as if particularly concerned.

“Miss Vilyric, that… uh, the dog clan senior?”

“The dog clan senior?”

Tilting her head in thought, the black-haired girl quickly understood.

“You mean Xiao Ya? Since the battle is over, I let it return early. What, do you need something from it?”

“Uh… Xiao Ya? No, no, it’s not that important; I was just a bit curious…”

After hesitating for a moment, 【Tree Bow】 didn’t dare to ask, “Could that be Miss Vilyric’s contracted Magical Beast?” or “What kind of creature is that?” Instead, she exchanged a glance with her companions and got back on topic.

“Now that we’ve found the missing populace and captured a key suspect related to the case, what does Miss Vilyric think we should do next? We still need to find and rescue Xiao Guang, but the situation here doesn’t look optimistic; the condition of those villagers… I’m afraid they urgently need further treatment.”

“Oh, it’s fine. Just leave them alone.”

“?”

The adventurers were slightly taken aback by this offhanded irresponsibility, but Miss Vilyric didn’t care about their confused glances, only explaining to herself.

“Don’t worry; these people won’t die any time soon. I’ve already found out from Marcelo that this is part of some gigantic ritual magic, constructed as a foundational piece.”

“You’ve seen their current state; it’s just like the legends say about vampires not being able to see sunlight. Having transformed into this state, these people have become some half-transformed beings that fit more into the 【Shadow World】. If we carelessly break the surrounding space and return to reality, that would truly cost them their lives.”

Sophie, gripping a wooden shield like a wall, furrowed her brows, recalling the bizarre appearance of the villagers’ bodies transforming into smoke, then spoke in a deep voice.

“What should we do then? We can’t just maintain the status quo, can we? Why don’t we return to reality first and send word to the Adventurer Guild and authorities in Adelaide City to send people for support?”

“No, we can’t disclose the situation here for now; that would let them take action prematurely.”

The Priestess categorically denied it, causing Hong Yan to raise an eyebrow.

“Miss Vilyric, do you mean that there are their…”

“Is that even a question?”

Carelessly shrugging her shoulders, the black-haired girl bluntly stated.

“So the best course of action right now is to do nothing and just keep this key figure, Marcelo, under control, allowing the Shadow World to continue circulating. Meanwhile, we should hurry to the cult’s main base and directly dismantle their ritual.”

“As long as the core of the ritual magic is destroyed, these scattered energy nodes will naturally collapse without resistance. Losing connection to the source of the anomaly will allow these people to gradually return to normal.”

“…”

Enrique pondered, seeming to judge the risk and feasibility of the Priestess’s plan of action.

“It sounds bold, but indeed… well, this should be the most efficient way to handle the current situation. But Miss Vilyric, the key question is, how do we find the core location of the ritual magic?”

“Hehe~”

The black-haired girl smiled knowingly.

“Aren’t we already on our way there?”

   

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