[Vol. 8] Chapter 297: Could It Be That You’re Also a Sneaky Cat!?
According to the White Dragon King, Cielru, ever since the ruins in Theo Province were closed, their coordinates have been shifting quickly eastward under some hidden power’s influence. If the final destination really is Frederick City, the capital of the Austre Empire, then judging by the time it appeared in the Purple Mist City, it might only take a few more days at most to arrive.
Before that happens, the World Sustainers will definitely take action.
Suddenly, a figure dropped down from the sky and landed steadily beside the casually strolling priestess. Who else could it be but the dragon girl who stayed behind earlier to stir up trouble?
“Master, it looks like things outside are starting to get chaotic.”
“Oh?”
Violet turned her head calmly and gave her dragon a glance.
Earlier, she had gone after Kaniel, who fled alone, while Xiao Guang stayed in the general store to handle the guards and make some noise to draw Nitila’s attention. Their division of tasks was clear, so there wasn’t much to complain about.
But perhaps because the dragon girl was still in a hyped-up mood from an earlier incident, she overdid things a bit. Instead of causing a proper fight, she ended up saving those unlucky guards, who were supposed to stop her but almost got crushed to death instead. It was honestly laughable.
After that, Xiao Guang took them to hide somewhere safe so the city defense troops wouldn’t find them. Only after Kaniel and the others explained everything to Violet and rushed off to clean up the mess did the dragon girl, who had somehow turned into an unasked-for babysitter, finally manage to slip away and return to her master.
But judging from her look, it seemed something else had happened on the way.
“What do you mean by ‘chaotic’? Is this because of the ruckus you caused earlier?”
Xiao Guang shook her head, her face looking a bit strange.
“No. I heard that not long ago, assassins attacked the prince who is currently acting as regent. The timing was just before us. This matter seems to be serious, the city’s guards are already fully mobilized, searching everywhere for the assassins. Compared to that, the trouble we caused barely made a ripple.”
“A prince?”
Hearing this, the priestess’s expression also turned odd.
“Who in their right mind would go and assassinate a prince at this time? Did they succeed? Do you know which prince it was?”
The dragon girl thought for a moment, then recalled with some uncertainty.
“I don’t know the exact details, but from what the soldiers were saying, the prince who was attacked should be… someone named Xiluo, I think?”
“Oh… so it’s that guy. Then it’s fine.”
No need to guess, there’s no way he would die.
After all, even though he isn’t quite on Carinvega’s level, he’s still a total freak. Back in Sainz, he fought alone against that girl possessed by [Nightmare] for a long time without being killed, and at that time, the girl’s overall power had already reached a level beyond “transcendent.”
Unless one or two pseudo gods show up, ordinary assassins pose zero threat to him. And if it really was a pseudo god making the attempt, then all the troops in the city chasing shadows wouldn’t matter, because such a being wouldn’t even need to run.
“This assassination…”
“Sorry, but this assassination was actually planned by us.”
The sound of footsteps and a clear female voice came from behind, pulling the two women’s eyes toward the room. There, walking out, were the two mermaid princesses. Violet raised her eyebrows slightly.
At this moment, Nitila had already changed her clothes and calmed her feelings. She also seemed to have explained the situation to her sister. The two of them walked hand in hand gracefully, like two beautiful twin lotus flowers, stunning to look at and stirring the imagination.
They stepped forward to stand before the priestess. Without waiting for her to ask, the girl called the Daughter of Truth took the initiative to explain.
“Of course, our goal was never really to harm that prince. Miss Violet, if you often walk around this city, you must have seen some sea folk prisoners locked in prison carts, paraded around the streets, and later sent into the imperial palace, right?”
Thinking back to what she had seen on the streets before, Violet nodded.
“Yes, in fact, I was just about to ask you what that was about.”
“Ah… this situation is actually not rare.” Nitila let out a small sigh.
“As you know, not long ago there were several large battles between the Sea Tribe Alliance and the Austre Empire. Both sides suffered losses, and capturing prisoners during war is normal. The Austre Empire’s way of handling them is to send them here, along with many other captives taken from different battlefields and enemy nations, and lock them all inside a certain tower within the imperial palace.”
“Just in the past month alone, the number of prisoners we know have been brought here has already reached tens of thousands.”
“With so many people going in but none ever coming out, it’s clear that something is not normal. And among those locked away deep in the palace, many of them are comrades of my merfolk clan who were captured during the battles. Because of this, both emotionally and morally, we cannot just stand by and do nothing.”
“And what does that have to do with you attacking the prince?”
Hearing this, Nitila instinctively glanced at the dragon-girl who stood close by Violet. The girl naturally held Violet’s hand tightly, showing affection. A sharp light flashed faintly in Nitila’s beautiful eyes, and for some reason, her smile grew deeper.
“This must be… Miss Violet’s closest and only partner, Miss Xiao Guang, right? Nice to meet you. My name is Nitila Mingjiao.”
“Hm? This feeling… could it be that you are also…”
The dragon-girl’s eyes spun around as she stared at the mermaid girl, but she didn’t finish her words. Instead, she gave a small huff and held her master’s hand even tighter, as if declaring her claim.
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
Actually, for Xiao Guang, this wasn’t the first time she had crossed paths with Nitila. Even though the two of them had never met face to face, back when she was still Xiao Guang, she had once traveled for several months at sea with the princess. They weren’t exactly close, but definitely not strangers.
Still, even if Nitila felt that this dragon-girl seemed a bit similar to that troublesome little dragon, she would never imagine their true relationship could be so complicated. And Xiao Guang, of course, would never take the initiative to explain it to others. Seeing the blonde girl remain calm, even showing a faint trace of pride, the princess’ momentum faltered slightly, and she could only shake her head helplessly.
“Of course it has something to do with it.”
As she spoke, Nitila pulled out a small stack of papers from her chest and showed them to the two girls. Violet immediately recognized them as the same papers Kaniel had taken from the general store earlier. Back then, time was short so she hadn’t paid much attention to what was written on them. Now that she saw them clearly—
They were crude maps, with a special-colored pen marking a route. These maps and routes could be pieced together into a larger whole. Combined with what Nitila had just said, it was obvious.
“This is a map of the imperial palace’s interior? You… want to sneak into the palace to rescue people?”