Chapter 16: Don’t be afraid when facing difficulties; confront them bravely.

“Very clever, aren’t you, Leila?”

Though it felt a bit odd, the Priestess followed the girl’s expectations and reached out to stroke her snowy white long hair, which elicited a pleased low hum from the girl as she squinted her eyes in delight.

Miss Vilyric had indeed intentionally fallen out with that group of soldiers.

Disliking them was one reason, but the sudden large-scale hunt for those demons by Demon Town also caught the Priestess’s attention.

When something unusual happens, there’s usually a reason; Demon Town wouldn’t suddenly target a batch of unknown demons without provocation. Even these low-quality poachers were released, indicating that the other party must be a substantial threat to their goals or interests.

As for Vilyric and her group of outsiders just arriving in Demon Town, they were in the dark with very little information, making it nearly impossible to intervene.

Given that, instead of following behind and investigating slowly through tiny clues, why not stir up some trouble and actively attract the hidden eyes on them?

Vilyric doesn’t have any detailed plan yet, but once chaos ensues, opportunities and leads will surely emerge sooner or later.

As for seeking Lester, she wasn’t genuinely expecting him to offer protection or help them escape the city; she just needed a place to stay and pretend to hide until events escalated.

Additionally, as Leila suggested, it was a chance to test out the worthiness of the first group of humans the Priestess encountered after her arrival in this world.

Most of her previous comments were intentionally off-putting; after all, while they had some history, their relationship wasn’t particularly deep. Anyone can boast, but whether they can act on it takes actual trials.

After vaguely explaining her goals to the girls, regardless of whether they understood, Vilyric calmly took out a novel and started reading slowly.

It was morning, and whether Lester meant to send them out at night or whether the authorities in Demon Town responded and began their search, time was still needed. All they could do was wait.

As time slowly passed, Lester hadn’t reappeared since then. Even for lunch, she heard it was delivered by his subordinates at his behest before he left.

Just as dusk approached, Edwina stood up and lit the magical lamps in the reception room. She refilled the tea for Vilyric, who was engrossed in her thick novel, and the four girls playing cards around the table. Only then did a noisy and chaotic sound gradually arise from outside.

“Oh, they’ve arrived.”

The Priestess’s ears perked up as she put her book back in her backpack. Among the joyful girls, the Little Dragon Daughter also sensed something and turned her gaze toward the window.

Many people were approaching from that direction.

The number was clearly far beyond the expected quota for mercenaries stationed there, and it couldn’t possibly be anyone Lester had invited.

After all, he had previously said to escape under the cover of night, not to attack Demon Town, creating such a commotion would surely alert everyone.

It seemed that the army sent by Demon Town was here to capture them.

“…”

While it was normal for the authorities to respond after some time, following the trail Vilyric had intentionally left, and it was entirely within the Priestess’s expectations, still… was Lester really not coming back?

Had he betrayed them? Could humans be…

Though she didn’t care much, truth be told, if it were the case, the Priestess would feel a tad uneasy. After all, he was one of the first humans she encountered upon entering this world, perhaps there was some special emotional attachment involved.

At that moment, the side door of the reception room was quietly pushed open, and a man in his twenties with bangs rushed in carrying a large sword.

“Hey! What did you guys do?! A bunch of soldiers from Demon Town suddenly surrounded the base, claiming they’re here to search for human fugitives!”

His bangs still sported the same light armor from their earlier meeting, and his face was filled with urgency as he handed over some sets of black cloaks that blended well with the night to Tilysha, who was closest to him.

“Hurry up, put these on! I’ll take you out through the back door; the commander is buying us time. There’s a spot in the base that’s less defended; just be careful, and we should be able to escape!”

“Pff… Ha ha…”

For some reason, upon realizing that Lester hadn’t snitched or betrayed them, the initially unconcerned Vilyric felt a bit relieved.

How to put it, she didn’t misjudge him after all.

“Still laughing?! Can you believe we’re in grave danger?! Those guys are an elite special unit from the Internal Guard, and even us [Black Knights] don’t get any respect from them. If you don’t want to die, hurry and change your clothes!”

It was evident that he was genuinely worried for their lives, which slightly surprised the Priestess. She hadn’t expected Lester to trust this guy so much and send him to warn them at such a critical moment.

Tilysha, holding a pile of black cloaks, glanced around, unsure of what to do. After all, Vilyric had previously told her that they actually had no intention or need to run away.

“Tsk… Apologies!”

Seeing the Priestess standing there giggling to herself without making a move, the guy with bangs couldn’t care less about gender differences. He hurriedly reached out to pull her, but Vilyric casually sidestepped and effortlessly dodged him. She looked towards the increasingly loud noise and footsteps outside the window.

Ignoring his astonished look, clearly unable to fathom that such a seemingly frail girl could move so fast, the black-haired girl lazily stretched her stiff body from sitting too long and waved to her companions.

“Don’t make it hard for the Uncle. Let’s go meet those drawn-over folks; hopefully, they’re a big catch.”

“Hey! Are you crazy…”

Once again ignoring the poor bangs guy, Vilyric opened the door and headed straight for the source of the noise, which led to the exit of the base, with the Little Dragon Daughter and others following behind.

However, the Priestess was a bit surprised that this guy, who had been so furious before, quickly caught up afterward and didn’t keep nagging them to leave. Instead, he looked like he had given up entirely?

This guy… while a bit reckless, still had some guts; he dared to stand with them against the army in this situation.

To be clear, doing so essentially meant aligning himself with the “fugitives” Vilyric and the others. If a confrontation ensued, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for the army to eliminate him on the spot for treason.

The [Black Knight Mercenary Corps] base wasn’t large, and the distances weren’t far. Before long, Lester’s anxious and helpless voice boomed from ahead.

“They did come here, but they left very early on! Even if you search, it’ll only be…”

A well-equipped unit of kingdom soldiers marched in perfect formation along the road. The magical hats and staffs vaguely visible in the center were securely protected by halberdiers and shield bearers. Meanwhile, the heavily armored cavalry mounted on first-tier magical beasts buzzed on their flanks, and although the back was out of sight, it was likely composed of sharpshooters.

This was the United Kingdom’s standard elite formation designed specifically to counter individuals or small groups of powerful foes; Vilyric had seen descriptions about it in books.

Judging by their presence, the quality of these soldiers was quite impressive, with at least levels over 10, and the heavily armored cavalry and those dozen mages were even stronger, all above level 20, which denoted them as elite-tier.

Any one of them would be quite a challenge for a certain bangs guy to face.

Assembling such a powerful group formation, even challenging a being of great strength who might be surrounded would be tough, with legends maintaining that even the strongest couldn’t contend with it. It was clear that Demon Town was well-prepared, likely deducing from the intel Alvins provided that Vilyric and the others possessed formidable strength.

Truly, a key fortress against the Northern Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons, the first city of the North; though it had its flaws, its hard power was indeed present.

   

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