“Together? Isn’t that a bit too dangerous? We’re facing demonkind. If we split up, it means the Judges will also be split up, which will become extremely dangerous,” Liana said.

“With all these things happening at the same time, it will also be dangerous for them, since demonkind also lack the art to split their body1分身乏术 (fēn shēn fá shù), to be stretched thin. right? This will weaken them to an extent,” Mephilia said.

“We don’t know how many of them there are. Besides, if they choose one location to launch a fierce assault, wouldn’t that be fatal for us?” Liana retorted.

At the same time, Liana found it a little strange. Why would the always-calm Mephilia make such a risky move?

Because Mephilia would never let herself fall into a dangerous situation. There was only one reason she would do this: she had absolute confidence in ensuring their safety.

Or... she knew that that place was extremely dangerous, and she planned to voluntarily go to the dangerous location, leaving the safer one for Liana.

“This is the only way, isn’t it? Liana, you can’t guarantee that the demonkind factions have no contact with each other, can you? If an accident happens on one side, the other side will immediately become alert,” Mephilia said.

That was true, but if this led to an accident, it would be a case of attending to one thing and losing sight of another.

“Mephilia, tell me. Do you know that place is very dangerous, so you’re planning to go there and send me to the safer place?” Liana laid her cards down.

Mephilia froze for a moment, then pouted, puffing her cheeks out. She put her hands on her hips and looked at Liana. “Am I really that untrustworthy in your eyes!”

“Isn’t it because I trust you that I suspect you?” Liana retorted.

“I guess that’s true.” Mephilia nodded, accepting Liana’s answer.

“So, that is what’s happening?” Liana frowned.

Mephilia shook her head. “It’s really not like that. I know you hate this kind of thing, Liana. If I did that, your affection for me would drop, and I don’t want that at all.”

But Liana still wore an expression of disbelief.

“Don’t look like that. I definitely did my homework before proposing this idea. Liana, you don’t need to worry,” Mephilia said with a smile.

It was hard for Liana not to worry. Who knew what abacus was she playing?2打的是什么算盘 (dǎ de shì shénme suànpán), what is the other scheming? “Then tell me, why have you been acting so confident ever since you returned? Did something happen?”

“Well, that’s a secret! I can’t tell you just yet!” Mephilia said, acting mysterious.

“That’s not acceptable.” Liana shook her head, rejecting Mephilia’s deflection. If Mephilia wouldn’t tell her, Liana would absolutely not agree to such a dangerous plan.

“Then I’ll reveal a little bit. This time, we will each have two Judges accompanying us. Does that put you at ease a little, Liana?” Mephilia said.

“Two Judges?” This surprised Liana. In other words, the King of Lisat was investing four Judge-level figures in them?

It needed to be understood, after her parents left, the Lisat Kingdom was left with only ten Judges. Excluding the four territories, the royal family itself had six Judges. If you then removed the King of Lisat and Headmaster Vikana, only four remained...

Which meant the King of Lisat was calling all the Judges currently in the Lisat Royal Capital to help them.

If that was the case, then they really could act separately.

“The King made that decision? Then wouldn’t the capital be left with only him as its sole Judge? Won’t that be a bit dangerous?” Liana said.

“Oh? I didn’t expect you to be so worried about him, Liana. I thought you’d resent him somewhat for the things he did to you,” Mephilia said.

Liana rolled her eyes at Mephilia. “Is that something a daughter should be saying?”

“What are you talking about?!” Mephilia poked Liana’s forehead. “Liana, you’re so mean. Saying something like that in front of so many people... I can get hurt too, you know.

“Father will definitely be safe, Liana, you don’t need to worry. Besides, as the King of Lisat, isn’t it normal for him to worry about these things? This is a crisis hidden within our Lisat Kingdom. It must be handled properly,” Mephilia said.

“That person is coming back too, right.” Liana thought of a rather unpleasant figure.

“Orleya? ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) She is indeed coming. But Liana, you really have a strong impression of her. You hold such a grudge,” Mephilia teased.

“It’s hard not to hold a grudge, okay.” Liana glanced at Loraviel.

Loraviel returned Liana’s gaze with a smile and said nothing. The matter between Princess Liana and Orleya was best left for the two of them to resolve.

“So, Mephilia, which place are you planning to go to? And give me a reason that can convince me,” Liana said.

“Eh, so strict.” Mephilia said with a grin, trying to lighten the atmosphere as much as possible.

She then began to speak seriously. “The goal in the Laurent Marquisdom is to slay a demon and use its demon core to repair the holy sword. Therefore, it’s reasonable for you and Princess Sephirena to go, right? And relatively speaking, this territory is the more dangerous place, because you will be facing an Executor-class demon wolf that was raised by a Judge.” 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Liana nodded. That part didn’t seem to have any major issues.

“As for the Minagado Territory, it concerns the holy sword’s main body. I happen to have sacred magic. Although I can’t use the holy sword fully, at least the sword won’t reject me. So, Loraviel and I will go. Loraviel can lend me a hand when the time comes.

“How about it? These two reasons are sufficient, right? Plus, the place I’m going is the relatively safer one,” Mephilia said.

It was indeed quite reasonable, but...

Loraviel’s palms began to sweat. If she and Princess Mephilia traveled alone, Loraviel found it hard to believe the Princess wouldn’t say something to her.

Was she planning to use this opportunity to clear the air between them?

Liana also found it convincing, but just like Loraviel, she had a feeling that if those two went off together, something would happen.

But if she objected, something would just happen right now instead. So, it was best to just agree to it for the time being.

“Besides, even if we can’t solve the holy sword problem, we can wait for you to come back, Liana, and tackle it together. The demon might run, but the holy sword won’t, right?” Mephilia said.

“Mn,” Liana nodded. “It seems I don’t have any grounds to refuse.”

“Right? We reached this conclusion after deep consideration,” Mephilia said.

“But... when you were discussing this with the Lisat King earlier, you didn’t know about the situation at Darriss yet, did you?” Liana asked.

“Er...”

“Speak! What else are you hiding from me!” Liana reached out and pinched Mephilia’s cheek.

“Don’t! Mess! Around!” Mephilia slapped Liana’s hand away and rubbed her own cheek. “Father gave me some authority. It’s... a kind of test, I suppose.”

“What do you mean?”

“The King of Lisat has already decided to make me the next ruler. He plans to announce this soon and apologize to you, Liana, in front of all the citizens of the Lisat Kingdom,” Mephilia said.

Liana shot to her feet. “Mephilia, don’t tell me you agreed?!”

“Of course I... didn’t.” Mephilia shook her head. “In the current situation, if the King of Lisat were to step down, it would cause massive chaos, wouldn’t it?”

Mephilia knew this. So, even if she really wanted the throne, she wouldn’t agree. “I knew you’d be concerned, Liana. After all, you’re a very gentle and kind person. So I refused the King of Lisat’s request. But, in return, there’s something else to compensate you, Liana.”

“What is it?”

“A secret.” Mephilia pinched her cheek back in revenge. “You’ll find out when the time comes, Liana. It’s classified for now.”

“I feel like you have a lot of secrets you’re keeping from me today,” Liana said, exasperated.

But seeing how happy Mephilia looked, it probably wasn’t anything bad. It couldn’t be anything bad. Mephilia wouldn’t joke about her own safety.

“Because a secret is a secret,” Mephilia said mysteriously.

“Although I don’t know where you’re getting the confidence to be this happy, Mephilia, we are facing demons. It’s better to be cautious,” Liana sighed, and continued.

“Besides, if everything goes smoothly, there’s still the biggest trouble waiting for us.” Although Mephilia had brought a lot of good news, one major problem still lay before them.

The matter with Headmaster Vikana. If everything proceeded smoothly, it would prove that Headmaster Vikana’s original personality hadn’t deceived them. In that case, what kind of existence was the current Headmaster Vikana?

And where was Headmaster Vikana’s original personality? Was it still alive?

“Sephirena, do you have any clues?” Liana looked at Sephirena. She was also an elf and had witnessed the previous scene; perhaps she knew something.

“Regarding this sort of thing, there are indeed records in history of someone whose body was possessed by a demon, yet they still retained a sliver of their original consciousness.”

Sephirena’s words gave them a glimmer of hope, but her next words extinguished it.

“But in all of history, not a single person has survived, nor has a method of rescue ever been found. They all eventually fall and become a demon. The best method is to kill them and grant them release.”