[Vol. 8] Chapter 176: The Mind Reader
As for the information these imperial soldiers had been collecting, of course they didn’t report it themselves. Instead, every few days, an agent from the Intelligence Bureau, who also sneaked into the Holy Empire and knew their identities, would come to gather and organize the intel.
Unfortunately, Skett had just met with his contact last night, meaning there wouldn’t be another contact for several days. So if Violet and the others wanted to stay and wait for the next one, they’d have to spend a long time here, which clearly wasn’t a good idea.
That was all Skett knew. It was obvious he was just a small pawn on the outer edge of this special operation by the Austre Empire. He just had the bad luck of running into Violet.
Although he hadn’t been very cooperative, Violet didn’t make things harder for him. She simply knocked him and his dozen or so real bandit companions unconscious and left them by the roadside.
While this wasn’t an official highway, the increase in bandit activity had led the temples and Holy Knights of Theo Province to strengthen patrols. A squad of knights was sure to pass by within the day. Once they saw these people dressed as bandits, they’d naturally figure out the situation and arrest them.
The previous groups of bandits they’d encountered had also been dealt with in the same way. Although Violet always looked like she just walked off without caring, she actually left a spiritual projection behind each time to keep watch, so she always knew how things would turn out.
After dealing with another group of bandits, the Hero Team and Violet’s “travel group” continued on their journey. But clearly, what had just happened left a deep impression on most of them, and raised even more curiosity and questions.
Sure enough, not long after, the energetic and talkative mage Chloe couldn’t hold back and asked.
“Wow, I didn’t expect little Eudora to have a mind-reading ability! That’s one of the hardest types of mental magic! From what I saw, that seems more like a natural talent than just ordinary magic, right?”
Then she added playfully.
“Umm… you’re not secretly reading all the stuff we’re thinking about, right...?”
To be fair, Chloe might be a bit mischievous, but she really knew her magic. With just a few words, she had figured out the true nature of Eudora’s ability. But Violet had already prepared Eudora for this kind of question, and the little girl answered smoothly.
“Sister Chloe, that power only works on normal people whose minds are way weaker than mine. And it uses a lot of energy, so I don’t use it unless I really have to. Don’t worry!”
That was a very clever answer.
Eudora wasn’t lying. The [Heart Chime Pendant], a special artifact for the Spirit Hero, wasn’t a true mind-reading tool. Its real purpose was to help the wearer communicate more deeply with animals and spirit creatures, kind of like telepathy. Normally, if someone had strong mental defenses and didn’t want to cooperate, the pendant couldn’t read their thoughts or memories at all.
But here’s the thing, Eudora is a succubus.
When she uses her true form and real power, even if her charm can’t fully control someone’s mind, she can still use the artifact to lower their mental defenses enough to create a “mind-reading-like” effect. In short, if she really wants to, probably only Violet and a certain Dragon God could completely resist her influence.
This little girl is naturally a perfect match for the powers of a Spirit Hero. Once she grows up, she might become the most dangerous and hard-to-guard-against Chosen One of them all.
That’s why Violet had already started guiding Eudora’s personality and values. If she went down the wrong path, the disaster she could cause in the future would be beyond imagination.
Sure enough, hearing Eudora give that kind of answer made everyone quietly breathe a sigh of relief. After all, in life, who doesn’t have a few personal secrets hidden in their heart? If there was someone in the group who could always see through your thoughts, even if they didn’t mean any harm, it would still feel very uncomfortable.
Sometimes, a kind lie is easier to face than a harsh truth.
The atmosphere in the team quickly became more relaxed. Miss Chloe, although a bit sharp-tongued, wasn’t someone without manners. She realized her earlier question might have gone too far and quickly gave an awkward laugh to change the topic.
“By the way, Miss Violet, are we really just going to let that guy go? He’s a spy from the Austre Empire, and he didn’t exactly cooperate either. Now that war has broken out between our nations, isn’t it a bit dangerous to leave someone like him around?”
As a noble daughter from the Human United Kingdom, Chloe was very aware of the current international situation. The Human United Kingdom and the Holy Empire had been working closely together for the past few years and were now almost fully allied, helping and protecting each other. Because of this, her loyalties were naturally with the Holy Empire, and she was especially sensitive about issues like this.
But Violet only shook her head.
“Calling him a ‘spy’ is giving him too much credit. He’s really just a disposable soldier the Austre Empire sent here to help because they didn’t have enough people.”
“I’ve met real agents from the Austre Empire’s Intelligence Bureau before. Their disguises and methods are far more advanced—they’d never get exposed so easily. Skett was just an unimportant outsider, cannon fodder at best. His personality isn’t particularly evil either. Since he hasn’t actually done anything terrible, there’s no need to kill him.”
Violet spoke calmly, as if it were no big deal. But her words made a certain blind hero girl perk up with interest. She asked curiously.
“So… how did you figure out Skett was actually an imperial officer? I mean, we’re taking this route because of the path you planned, right? Is there something strange about this Chaos Magic Valley? Did you know the Austre Empire would show up here causing trouble?”
This was clearly something everyone else had been wondering as well. Even Eudora, who usually didn’t understand much about political matters, looked over at the black-haired girl with her big, sparkling purple eyes.
But Violet only gave a small smile and shook her head.
“Don’t overthink it. I don’t know much more about this Chaos Magic Valley than you do, and I definitely didn’t know the Austre Empire would send people here ahead of time. Honestly, running into Skett today was just a complete coincidence.”
“As for how I knew he wasn’t a regular bandit but a disguised imperial soldier… that part was actually really simple.”