Azure Scepter

Page 105

"Didn't you just say you were going to the outer city?" Futia said in surprise. "Dear Edith, you haven't developed neurosis at such a young age, have you?"

Edith knew that Feudia's injuries had completely healed, and she had returned to the person she knew: sharp-tongued and stubborn, unwilling to admit her mistakes.

“Fodia, wait.” Edith hesitated for a moment before saying, “I don’t want to be seen. Can we sneak out?”

The elf nodded: "Then you can't wear clanging chainmail."

Although Futia was stubborn and sharp-tongued, her professional skills as a scout were outstanding. Led by Futia, the two moved along the shadows of the eaves. Through ingenious route planning and near-perfect timing, Edith, who knew nothing about stealth, managed to bypass all the guards silently.

Edith felt a surge of joy as she leaped from a gap in Dragon's Kiss Pass onto a rooftop in the lower city and ran along a hidden, abandoned canal into the outer city.

"That's exciting, Futia." The princess smiled. "Don't we look like that gentleman thief in 'The Drunken Moon'?"

“Not at all—that thief was beheaded,” Futia retorted mercilessly. “I don’t want to die, and the fact that we were able to get out so easily only proves that the guards in the upper city are problematic.”

“No, it’s because you designed the route so well,” Edith said sincerely.

Fydia blushed and murmured, "Where...where is it? It's not..."

The two chatted and laughed as they jumped out of the ditch, but the next moment, they both suddenly fell silent.

PS: Second update.

Chapter 211 The Eraf Holiday (Part Two)

The instant the two jumped out of the ditch, a girl carrying a yellow woolen cloak belonging to a guard rushed towards them!

Caught off guard, Edith was startled and instinctively dodged to the side, but ended up colliding head-on with Feudia, who was also dodging.

"Bang!" Edith felt a sharp pain in her head as Feudia was sent flying by the impact!

With a scream, Futia fell into the ditch. A moment later, a dull thud was heard from the ditch as something heavy hit the ground.

The princess covered her head, about to apologize, when the strange girl rushed over and grabbed her hand: "Help me! Someone's chasing me, don't tell them where I went! They want to kill me!"

After saying that, the woman holding the guard's robe jumped directly into the abandoned ditch.

A dull thud echoed from the canal—though Edith hadn't looked into the canal, she knew the strange woman had bumped into Futia...

"I'm sorry, Futia!" Edith said quickly.

"Don't speak, they're coming!" the strange woman cried. "Please! I don't want to die..."

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a group of fully armed guards rushed into the alley. The leading guard was tall and had a whip-like scar on his face.

The head guard stopped and slowly looked around before spotting Edith standing at the edge of the canal, wearing a white hood.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, but when he saw the holy emblem on Edith's chest, he released his hand.

"Greetings, Your Excellency." The captain of the guard bowed respectfully. "We are pursuing a fugitive who is carrying a yellow wool cloak."

Edith clutched her head in pain, the ringing in her ears making it difficult for her to concentrate.

As a paladin who upholds her oath of dedication, the problem at hand is a real challenge for her.

If he chooses to betray that strange girl, then he will definitely be breaking his oath, since "compassion, helping others, and protecting the weak" are important parts of the oath itself.

However, choosing to protect the strange girl would also be a breach of the oath, because "honesty, not lying, not cheating" are also important principles of the oath.

The princess, who was not very bright to begin with, was suddenly caught in a dilemma.

She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Can you tell me what evil things that fugitive did?"

The guard captain didn't speak, but the other soldiers beside him slowly surrounded him.

Edith noticed that everyone was gripping their weapons tightly, and they all looked inexplicably extremely tense. The fingers of each of them gripping their weapons were so white from the excessive force that they looked like zombies.

Edith also gripped the Holy Avenger tightly in her hand.

However, at that moment, a guard with a thick beard cautiously approached the captain of the guards and whispered something in his ear.

Although they were speaking very softly, Edith's perception was always exceptionally good, so she heard what they were saying.

“Foyle, she’s a paladin. Her refusal to answer directly means she’s seen the girl,” the guard whispered.

Edith pursed her lips, realizing she had let something slip—she was indeed very bad at lying.

"Lord Nordman offered that girl a hefty price of 20 gold dragons...that's 20 gold dragons!...If we keep things clean, no one will find out the paladin is dead—that meddlesome Alex disappeared without a trace, didn't he?...It's worth the risk...to start a new life..." the guard continued.

Captain Foyle nodded slightly, then his cold gaze swept over Edith, and the surrounding soldiers slowly lowered their spears...

However, the next moment, Captain Foyle's pupils suddenly contracted, his posture suddenly froze, and then, as if he had seen a ghost, he took two steps back in a daze.

"Haha..." The captain of the guard chuckled awkwardly. "She shouldn't be in this direction—sorry to bother you, let's go."

"What nonsense are you talking about, Foyle?" the bearded guard said disapprovingly. "She's right here, we all know it, she's definitely in that abandoned ditch."

"I said let's go!" Captain Foyle roared, grabbing a bearded guard by the neck. "Put down your weapons, all of you! No one is to be disrespectful to this noble lady!"

Foyle seemed to have a high level of prestige in the guard squad, and although the order was extremely unreasonable, the soldiers hesitated and put down their weapons.

Edith breathed a sigh of relief. Although she didn't know what had happened, it was always good to avoid a fight.

Only then did she realize that Futia, with a red and swollen forehead, had silently crept up behind the guard, the short knife in her hand gleaming with a chilling light.

At this moment, Futia slowly sheathed her weapon and then disappeared into the shadows like a drop of water merging into the ocean.

"Your Excellency, may the radiance guide your path." The captain of the guard bowed almost humbly to Edith, then led his soldiers away from the alley.

Edith blinked in confusion, hesitated for a moment, and then decided to continue listening to the other person's voice.

—After the guards had gone some distance from the alley, the faint sound of conversation drifted into Edith's ears along with the sound of rain.

"Foyle, give us an explanation!" The bearded voice faintly drifted over.

Captain Foyle's voice came through: "Let's go further away first."

"Damn it, explain to me right now, that's 20 gold dragons! 20 gold dragons! 20 gold dragons! You can't just cheat us like this, can you?"

"Alright—I have a question for you: In the city of Eraf, which paladin is a gray-haired woman?"

The conversation abruptly stopped.

A few breaths later, the bearded man's trembling voice came again: "The Eldest Princess?"

Edith subconsciously tugged at her braid—she was clearly wearing a hood, so how did the captain of the guard know?

"We've escaped with our lives!" The bearded man's voice trembled even more. "Damn it, Foyle, you're our savior!"

The bearded man paused for a moment, then continued, “I heard from others that the princess kills a virgin every day and then bathes in the virgin’s blood. She maintains her beauty and power through this evil magic—which is why she deliberately drove the ducal people into Eraf! This way, she can more easily command her henchmen to capture virgins.”

???

The princess stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Bathing in the blood of virgins? Me? Are you kidding me?

Is my reputation in the Southern Duchy really that bad?

At that moment, the advice of her personal maid echoed in her mind—she should go and see the outer city herself.

Edith had always thought she was dutiful and well-liked, but now it seemed that wasn't the case...

She couldn't help but feel a little wronged.

"Hiss—no wonder those strangers are forcibly maintaining the blockade." The third guard's voice rang out, and he gasped. "By the Radiance, those strangers are truly wicked, curse them!"

"Don't talk nonsense. How could a paladin bathe in blood?" the captain of the guard retorted. "What you're saying is all rumors."

Even though it was eavesdropping, Edith couldn't help but clench her fist in excitement.

"The reason the princess forcibly drove the people into Eraf was to offer them as sacrifices to the demons," the captain of the guard solemnly announced. "You may not understand theology, but I do. The souls of paladins are very precious, but without offering enough sacrifices, paladins cannot be directly reincarnated as high-ranking demons. In order to directly ascend to high-ranking demons, Edith deliberately drove people into Eraf. It is a large-scale ceremony."

"Think about all those succubus victims who keep appearing—we searched for two whole months and came up empty-handed! Do you think this would be possible without the protection of higher-ups? There must be some complete demon worshippers among those high-ranking nobles! That lurking demon is... Edith!"

Edith stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

I am a succubus!?

Have they all gone mad?

“Glory, we can’t just sit here and wait to die,” the bearded man said frantically. “I don’t want to go to hell. Let’s hurry and report her to the priest.”

“Demons belong to the abyss, devils belong to hell,” the captain of the guard corrected. “In any case, we’ve been drawn into something extraordinary—do you know why Lord Nordman offered that little girl 20 gold dragons?”

"Isn't that top secret?" the bearded man asked.

“I know Williams, Lord Nordman’s second-in-command, the famous rogue mage—he told me that the little girl is involved with a powerful demon lord, and she seems to be a weapon sent by the demon lord to corrupt humanity!”

Demon Lord?

Edith blinked, and she subconsciously turned her head to look at the girl next to Futia who was holding a guard's yellow wool cloak.

Twin ponytails, a slender figure, purple eyes, and tear-like bruises at the corners of her eyes from a blood plague infection...

Edith's pupils suddenly contracted, and she realized that the other person looked exactly like the sketch Trier had drawn!

The girl gave the princess a shy smile, and Edith gave a stiff smile in return.

—This girl is actually the vessel for the demon lord's descent in the Trier prophecy!?

Chapter 212 The Eraf Holiday (Part 3)

Looking at the little girl covered in mud, clutching a golden wool cloak, Edith felt her heart in turmoil.

She had absolutely no idea how to deal with the little girl in front of her.

Should I protect her? Or should I leave her alone, or should I kill her to prevent the demon lord from descending?

Or should I hand her over to the teacher?

Should we ask Trier for his opinion?

In an instant, countless contradictory thoughts arose in Edith's mind. They collided with each other and then vanished. Overworking her brain aggravated her tinnitus and headache. The princess felt increasingly lost and helpless. She subconsciously lowered her eyes, wanting to avoid making a difficult decision.

Edith took a deep breath and refocused her attention on eavesdropping on the guards' conversation in the distance.

“Foyle, what do you think we should do?” the bearded man asked.

“Don’t rush, listen to me.” Captain Foyle’s tone was quite calm. “If we turn back now and fight that evil princess to the death, we’ll be courting death. She’s blessed by the devil and is a legend. We’re not even a match for her. She might burn us all to ashes with the fires of the abyss the moment she opens her mouth.”

“Then we should report this to the pastor as soon as possible,” the bearded man quickly reiterated his stance. “The radiance will protect us.”

“That won’t do either.” The captain of the guard sneered. “Without solid evidence or sufficiently influential eyewitnesses, if we report this, we’ll most likely be seen as crazy—no one will protect us, we’ll be convicted of treason, and we’ll all lose our heads!”

"Then are we just waiting to die?" a guard asked, his voice filled with despair.

“That’s not necessarily true,” the captain of the guard said with certainty. “Listen, I have a plan, a big plan.”

Edith tried to hear the captain of the guards' plan, but he deliberately lowered his voice, and she could only vaguely hear words like "a righteous and wise person" and "power enough to destroy high-ranking demons."

A moment later, the bearded guard's excited voice rang out: "That makes sense, as expected of you, Foyle! Let's do it that way, the timing is perfect!"

Edith felt increasingly depressed. The excitement and joy of sneaking out had completely vanished, and her mood was now like a cold drizzle that had lasted for three or four days.

Why would they be so hostile and disgusted with me? This is just too unfair...

She wanted to sigh, but the pent-up frustration in her chest made it difficult for her to do so.

Why am I so hesitant? Why can't I be as decisive as Trier?

In a short while, Edith's melancholy turned into self-criticism, and she felt even more depressed.

"Are you alright?" Futia asked with concern, her forehead red and swollen. "Why are you suddenly so upset?"

Edith forced a smile and said, "It's nothing, I just didn't sleep well."

Futia clearly didn't believe it. She rubbed her forehead and looked at herself suspiciously. Her sharp gaze made Edith quite uncomfortable.

But at that moment, the little girl suddenly spoke.

"That was close! I almost got caught!"

She smiled and looked up.

Thank you, ma'am!

Edith crouched down and looked intently into the little girl's purple eyes.

"You're welcome. To be honest, I didn't do anything."

“You didn’t betray me,” the little girl said earnestly. “You are a kind person.”

For some reason, hearing the little girl's gratitude, Edith suddenly felt much calmer, and the forced smile on her face became more genuine.

—In any case, I at least helped a weak and innocent person. Although I don't have the ability to protect all my people, I at least protected one.

Perhaps she had been too ambitious in the past. If she couldn't help so many people, then helping just one would be good too, the princess thought.