Chapter 71: I’m Sorry, I’m Too Weak

Although Mona was smart and mature enough, she was still too soft-hearted, or rather, like her sister, fundamentally a very kind person; faced with the ruse left by the Ghost Thieves, she hesitated.

Over three hundred non-human girls were quickly moved to an empty hall on the second floor. After a simple search, there was indeed no sign of the Moonshadow Royal Family’s cub among them.

These girls included various magical beasts, half-human hybrids, even a few Winged People, and a handful of rare species from distant lands—far more and rarer than the slaves Vilyric had seen back at the Universal Shop, truly astonishing.

“Hmm…”

Looking at the little princess, who was distressed in front of the gathered unconscious girls, Vilyric hesitated for a moment but finally patted her shoulder.

“Little Mona, you go ahead. I’ll handle things here, and I’ll catch up with you later. Don’t worry, it won’t take too long; as for the cleanup, leave it to Uncle Lester and the others.”

Hearing this, the blue-haired girl turned around in surprise but still looked a bit hesitant.

“Miss Vilyric, are you really going to do it alone? I know you’re strong, unbelievably so, but saving people and fighting are different things, especially since we don’t even know how to neutralize this magical drug yet…”

“Hey, hey…”

The Priestess, having her medical skills questioned, immediately grabbed the little girl’s soft, plump face and angrily twisted it like dough, completely disregarding the respect due to a princess, while also ignoring the uneasy expressions of the Grim Reaper’s Scythe team members and the Shadow People nearby.

“So, did you really not understand what I said before?”

After having a thorough experience of the princess’s perfect grip, Vilyric released the now slightly red-faced Mona, who looked like she was about to cry but hurriedly raised her hand to stop her subordinates from rushing forward to “protect the princess.” Vilyric poked the priest’s staff in her hand forcefully.

“I’ll say it again, I am a priest! Do you understand that?!”

“Wah… it hurts…”

The little princess rubbed her cheeks, replying pitifully.

“Well, if you understand, hurry up and chase after them! They’re getting away!”

“Wah wah! I’m sorry!!”

Leading a bunch of puzzled subordinates, the blue-haired girl hurriedly dashed out.

It wasn’t until all the Shadow People were out of sight that Vilyric let out a resigned sigh.

The Ghost Thieves truly lived up to their reputation as the top organization in Demon Town, having risen above countless other poaching groups; they had perfected the concept of the ‘three burrows for the cunning rabbit,’ managing to let their lizards escape even so.

However, they couldn’t have really anticipated everything like Mona, in fact, from the many time-wasting setups and various clues, it seemed this batch of Ghost Thieves hadn’t escaped for long.

Strange… If Aileen had been on alert since she learned of Vilyric’s ‘true identity,’ then the Ghost Thieves shouldn’t have fled in such a hurry. Where exactly did things go wrong?

Since they hadn’t fled early, they could no longer easily hide in the city with the royal family officially intervening and losing the protection of the high-level officials of Demon Town. Their only choice was to escape the city and flee to the vast south of the United Kingdom.

But Mona had anticipated this possibility, asking a certain northern military marshal to arrange soldiers to block all four city gates of Demon Town; there’s absolutely no way the Ghost Thieves could slip out in a short period.

So while it seemed like a desperate chase, the Ghost Thieves were already trapped like fish in a barrel; the only difference was that if time was wasted here, the subsequent hunt would become more troublesome.

But for now, the focus should be on cleaning up this mess.

After sending a greeting through the contract to the Little Dragon Daughter left outside, ordering her to bring the Black Knights guarding the entrance inside—after all, Mona had taken everyone with her, and here, there were quite a few bound Ghost Thieves plus all these sick patients, creating quite a hassle.

Not rushing to start treatment, Vilyric glanced at the only one who hadn’t followed the princess out, currently standing beside her, casually surveying the Ghost Thieves with a nonchalant expression.

This guy had been the only one at the scene who hadn’t devised a good response when the floor of the hall cracked earlier, nearly dropping straight down like a wooden stake.

Fortunately, the Priestess noticed just in time and tossed a Light Spear from afar, precisely piercing through the armor on his shoulder, pinning him against the wall like a damp fish, saving him from becoming a true cold corpse.

Most of the follow-up poisoned arrows were blocked by the Soul, and given that he was so close to the wall, he hadn’t been affected at all—lucky fool.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to chase after her? What if something happens to the Miss Aileen, and you can’t see her?”

“…”

The guy remained silent, exchanging a knowing glance with the priestess, whose silvery-blue eyes sparkled with mockery, before his gaze shifted to the frail shoulder of the girl being protected by the white-robed figures, where holy and beautiful white wings had just spread out.

He retorted.

“Vilyric… I’ll just call you that. Aren’t you human?”

“Mm-hmm~ Guess.”

Though she didn’t directly answer, Vilyric’s non-denial already said it all.

“Is that so.”

“I never imagined Your Majesty the Queen could accomplish this step already; it seems Demon Town and the United Kingdom are truly about to undergo a huge transformation…”

Musing somewhat, the guy paused.

“Regardless, I have to thank you for saving my life earlier, including that time in the underground black market; the wounds mysteriously disappearing must also be your doing, right? I was a bit out of it back then, so I didn’t notice these details; I’m sorry, I owe you a life.”

“That? Just a small gesture, no worries~”

Though she felt like this guy might have misunderstood something, Vilyric was never one to elaborate slowly on such matters, simply smiling casually.

“So, you’re really not going to chase after Aileen now?”

“Mm, not going. I’m too weak; anyone among those black-clad women you brought could easily defeat me. Just like earlier, forcing myself to follow would only be a burden; it’s better to stay here and help with the aftermath.”

“The Ghost Thieves, if all goes well, should be completely destroyed today.”

The guy fell silent for a moment.

“As long as there’s even a slight chance, I want to atone for some of the sins I’ve committed in the past, and now those Aileen has committed.”

“I see. Then I suggest you consider changing your profession to a priest or a cleric to earn some merits; anyway, you’re still young, so you have plenty of time~”

Playfully teasing him a bit more, Vilyric didn’t waste any more time, crouching down by a nearby girl, reaching out to activate Intelligence Detection.

“Let’s see… huh?”

Initially thinking it was just a regular poison, planning to casually cast a healing spell and purify it to deal with it, but once the detection skill activated, Vilyric frowned, realizing the situation seemed a bit different than expected.

“What’s the matter? Is healing proving difficult?”

Seeing Vilyric’s change in expression, although he couldn’t comprehend the effects of Intelligence Detection, the guy could tell something was wrong, and his expression immediately became serious.

“Not exactly, but this poison…”

Vilyric withdrew her hand, staring at the unconscious, pained expression of the green-winged girl in front of her, her face showing a look of contemplation.

In essence, this girl wasn’t poisoned; she had fallen unconscious due to a massive disruption and runaway of her internal magic for some unknown reason, which her body couldn’t withstand.

Put colloquially, it was similar to getting too deep into a cultivation story.

However, typically, beings with magic almost never encounter such situations; magical flow has its stable patterns and is regulated ceaselessly by the core—just like blood can’t suddenly burst out of veins.

It was evident that the source of this situation was some unknown magical drug deployed by the Ghost Thieves.

But magic falling into chaos and becoming uncontrollable…

For some reason, Vilyric recalled the Exorcist powder the hunters had used when she first arrived in Little Lan; that stuff seemed to have a similar effect, yet it only didn’t work on humans despite them also having magic.

Weird… How do these things actually operate?

   

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