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Chapter 114: The Inside Man (Addendum)

“Hmm? What is this…”

Curiosity piqued, Ban reached for the document, intending to read it over.

But just at first glance, his expression changed drastically.

“This! This isn’t mine… it can’t be! I clearly destroyed it myself; how can there still be a copy? No, no, no, this…”

With a bang, the Second Prince slammed both hands onto the stone table, ignoring the pain in his palms, his red eyes glaring at the black-haired girl before him as he shouted.

“Vilyric! Where on earth did you get this thing… tell me immediately!!”

“How dare you! You filthy…!”

Seeing her master being yelled at, the Little Dragon Daughter bared her teeth and raised her claws, ready to smash this audacious human’s head like a watermelon, but Vilyric waved her hand dismissively.

“It’s nothing; I forgive him.”

“Hmph…”

Only then did Miss Giant Dragon reluctantly retreat.

As she spoke, the Priestess glanced at Aaliyah behind Ban, who remained unmoved, only casting curious glances at Xiao Guang, then turned back to explain casually.

“Don’t be so agitated. Didn’t I say? This was found in your ring, yes, this one.”

Taking out the “God’s Guardian Ring,” she waved it in front of him before immediately putting it away.

No way was she planning on returning it to Ban; after all, it was a pseudo-holy artifact.

“In my ring?”

Realizing his loss of composure, Ban took a few deep breaths, quickly calming himself as he rolled up the evidence documenting his collusion with the Beastmen and tucked it away.

Vilyric didn’t stop him; that useless thing held no significance for the Priestess.

As for the “God’s Guardian Ring,” which was equivalent to a treasure for ordinary people in this world, Ban had recognized it but merely cast it a fleeting glance without further comment, nor did he demand that Vilyric “return it to its rightful owner” or let the Dragon Princess behind him take it by force.

It seemed that, in his eyes, the importance and impact of this ring were far surpassed by that letter.

“Ha… I didn’t expect Liliya would gift you something like this. She really put a lot of thought into it, and Miss Vilyric is quite capable to have unraveled its restrictions… heh, well.”

As if confirming something, Ban repeated, “You say this was found in my ring, is that true?”

“Of course! I don’t have a habit of casually lying.”

“Is that so…”

Ban nodded, returning to his originally polite demeanor as if they were longtime friends sharing a gentle smile.

“In any case, I still thank you, Miss Vilyric, for informing me of this. Now we are even.”

The small object, resembling a shuttle about a dozen centimeters long, radiated an increasingly bright silver light.

Ban reached to pick it up and stood, adjusting his slightly disheveled elegant attire due to his previous actions.

“Well then, I’m off. Miss Vilyric, aren’t you going to try to stop me? Though I don’t think you can, if you just let me go, I don’t think it will sit well with the princess, right?”

“Mm-hmm~”

With a cute snort from her nose, the Priestess remained seated in her stone chair, leisurely nibbling on a pink pastry like a hamster, waving goodbye dismissively.

“I don’t need to account to anyone. If you manage to survive, that’s your talent. I told you from the start I was here to seek answers, and now… I understand everything.”

“So, goodbye, ambitious prince.”

“That’s really a pity… I hope that when we meet next, we won’t be in such an adversarial position.”

Ban shook his head helplessly, as if recalling something, he directed his gaze back to the black-haired girl.

“By the way, having answered all of Miss Vilyric’s questions, I wonder if you could satisfy one small wish of mine?”

“Go ahead?”

“Tell me, who exactly are you? Why can’t I uncover anything about your background or past?”

“Um… this.”

Propping her chin thoughtfully, Vilyric nodded in agreement.

“Well, since it’s come to this, let me show you just a glimpse.”

As she spoke, the black-haired Priestess reached up and removed the nearly undetectable transparent mask from her face, revealing her features openly for the first time.

The Second Prince’s expression shifted slightly.

“Vilyric… Vilyric, so it’s you. How interesting, I completely failed to realize this before; it was indeed right not to clash with you. Well, I suppose this counts as an answer.”

“Though I’m still curious about your deeper true identity, being too pushy in front of a lady would be quite improper. So, let’s hope we meet again, Miss Vilyric.”

“Mm, this time it really is goodbye.”

The White Robed Girl waved with a smile, watching as that intense silver light burst forth from the shuttle, enveloping Ban Meikailande and Aaliyah behind him, and in the end, she didn’t even initiate a conversation with the girl who shared the name Rebecca.

Thus, quietly observing them disappear into the third level of this magical space enveloped in silver light, it was evident that Ban was already prepared to escape from this place; everything was according to his plan.

…But was it truly so?

“Master, are you just letting them go like this?”

The Little Dragon Daughter’s slightly perplexed voice came from behind.

And seeming to see through everything, the Priestess had an oddly whimsical smile on her lips, shaking her head lightly.

“I told you, I never casually lie, and why should I take the effort to kill him? Just because I spent a lot of time coming here? Or because he’s done bad things? I’m not some righteous guardian who cannot tolerate even a speck of sand.”

As she spoke, Vilyric’s topic suddenly veered in another direction.

“Xiao Guang, oh Xiao Guang, there are so many smart people in this world, but no one can plan for every eventuality. There’s a saying—’Being in the game while unaware of it, by the time one knows, they are already an outsider’… hey, how laughable, how lamentable.”

“…?”

“Well, you’ll understand when the time comes… ah! I forgot to ask Ban about that token!”

The black-haired girl laughed halfway before suddenly turning awkward.

The Little Dragon Daughter covered her face with her hands.

……

Outside the City of Courage, in a certain glade among the Adventurer’s Plains.

Swish.

Silver light swirled, and a strong spatial fluctuation flashed past, as a man and a woman appeared out of nowhere.

As the dizziness from the space transfer faded, Ban Meikailande surveyed the surrounding environment, nodding in satisfaction.

“…Hmm, it’s the expected location. That group from the Twilight Council may be ruthless when it comes to killing, but the quality of their goods is undeniable. This ‘Rift Shuttle’ really allowed us to escape from the third level of the dungeon—thanks for your help, Miss Rebecca.”

Having shed her identity in her Dragon Princess form, Rebecca had reverted to her appearance as the shopkeeper.

Though she still felt a bit weak, as a Transcendent Level Expert created through special means, the biggest characteristic of the “Twin Dragon Princess” was that her two souls were split, essentially receiving only half the damage.

And, due to certain special reasons, Rebecca hadn’t ended up as battered as Miss Edith, still retaining some fighting capability.

But precisely because Rebecca was injured, Ban opted not to clash with Vilyric and the others, seeking a more cautious approach.

“It’s okay; this was all part of the plan, Your Highness.”

“Hehe, right, let’s hurry now; there will be troops waiting for us outside. Let Liliya slowly deal with the mess in the City of Courage while we take this opportunity to start something.”

“Also, I’m very concerned about that copied contract; even though we were lucky enough to recover it, it indicates that there might be an inside man in our ranks. We need to find them out quickly.”

Saying this, Ban took the lead and stepped forward.

But focused on thinking through their future strategies, he didn’t notice the increasingly cold and resentful gaze of the girl behind him.

A hollow chill seemed to be watching… a corpse.